Shortly after Russia’s new missile attacks on dozens of Ukrainian cities, Germany handed over the Iris-T SLM air defense system to the country. This was announced by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov on Twitter.
“A new era of air defense” has now begun. He expressly thanked Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) for her strong support for Ukraine, which has been fighting a Russian invasion since February.
Germany initially wants to provide Kyiv with four of the 140 million euro systems of the ground-based type of Iris-T, the financing of three more has been secured. The system consists of several components: radar installation, command post and three truck-mounted missile launchers.
Protection for medium-sized cities
One of these systems can protect a medium-sized city like Nuremberg or Hanover. Iris-T SLM can fire at targets up to 20 kilometers altitude and 40 kilometers range. So a kind of protective screen is stretched over an area. “Especially the ground-based air defense is able to permanently protect rooms over a longer period of time,” writes the manufacturer.
Ukrainian soldiers have already been trained on the weapon system in Germany. Industry took over the technical support. Air Force specialists took over the tactical training.
Iris-T was largely developed by the German manufacturer Diehl Defence. It fires a missile to defend against helicopters, airplanes, cruise missiles and missiles. The radar determines the direction of the attack; At the end of the approach, the rocket’s seeker head, which reacts to infrared, i.e. thermal radiation, takes over.
There is no such thing as 100 percent protection. Thus, decoys can deflect a single missile or a majority of attacking objects can overwhelm the sensors or the entire system.
The anti-aircraft system is mobile and can quickly change location when scouted by the enemy. The system is then ready to fire again in a short time.
The Ukraine is to receive three more systems from Germany, although the exact time also depends on Egypt agreeing to a later delivery of an order that has already been placed. In the Bundeswehr itself, the ground-based system is not to be introduced until 2025.
Attacks on energy infrastructure
The Russian shelling was obviously aimed particularly at energy infrastructure, for example in Lviv in the west several substations were completely destroyed. Many residents were cut off from electricity.
Resnikov announced that Nasams rocket launcher systems from the USA were also on the way. “This is just the beginning. And we need more. There is no doubt that Russia is a terrorist state,” the minister continued. There is a “moral imperative” to protect the skies over Ukraine to protect our people.
The FDP politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann called the delivery of Iris-T on “RTL Direkt” good news, “because it naturally also serves to protect cities from rocket attacks, which are completely random and just (.. .) Catch people by day, smash playgrounds and just cause a lot of suffering!”
Resnikov previously thanked the United States on Twitter for four additional Himar-type multiple rocket launchers that had arrived in Ukraine. The arrival of the armaments means “a good time for the Ukrainians and a bad time for the occupiers”.
