The German MoD (Ministry of Defense) announced on December 15, 2022, the delivery of more IRIS-T SLM surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine. The IRIS-T SLM is a surface-to-air defense missile system designed and manufactured by the German company Diehl Defense.
On September 28, 2022, it was confirmed that Germany will supply Ukraine with four batteries of IRIS-T SLM air defense missile systems. Citing information from the German Ministry of Defense, the first IRIS-T SLM battery was delivered to Ukraine in October 2022.
The IRIS-T SLM provides air defense on 360° and is able to intercept and destroy aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, and guided weapons. It enables simultaneous engagement of multiple targets from very short to medium-range within extremely brief reaction times.
The IRIS-T SLM ground-based air defense system uses a modified guided missile IRIS-T equipped with a more powerful engine as a means of destruction. The iris-T missile is a short to medium range infrared homing air-to-air missile that was designed to replace the AIM-9 Sidewinder, a short-range air-to-air missile.
The IRIS-T SLM missile uses additional radio command guidance (combined with inertial-satellite correction) in the main trajectory section with infrared CNS navigation system type IIR target acquisition in the final section.
The missiles of the IRIS-T SLM system are designed to intercept aerial threats at medium ranges with a maximum distance of 40 km and altitude of 20 km. The missile has a length of 2.93 m, a diameter of 127 mm, and a wingspan of 447 mm. It has a combat weight of 11.4 kg.
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