What does the IRIS-T self-propelled air defense system consist of and how does it work (video)
One of the world’s best medium-range air defense systems, IRIS-T SLM, will be put on duty in Odesa region.
The spokesman for the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Bratchuk, spoke about measures to protect the region from enemy attacks during the United News telethon.
“We said that we would have IRIS-T. Our forecasts are coming true. The sky will be closed in the near future,” Bratchuk emphasized.
The IRIS-T system is based on three vehicles: a missile launcher, a radar station and a fire control post, which are united by logistics and its own support and interaction system. As a rule, this is a wheeled chassis, including a multi-axle all-terrain vehicle, used directly under the launcher. By the way, the missile launcher can operate two dozen kilometers away from the control vehicle, receiving commands via secure radio communication channels.
The IRIS-T SLM battery, consisting of three MAN 8×8 trucks with launch superstructures on such chassis, is maintained by the operators of the aforementioned multifunctional target detection and tracking radar and the commander with the control team. The 360-degree observation radar is capable of simultaneously firing at multiple targets even in bad weather with poor visibility.
Each unit has launch pads for 8 missiles. They use a potential targeting algorithm for targets detected by radar at 250 km. The missile’s range reaches a depth of 40 km and an operational altitude of 20 km. The turntable can be rotated 360 degrees in any direction.
Ukraine already has German IRIS-T SLM medium-range missile systems and effectively uses them against enemy missile attacks. Our soldiers affectionately called this system “toffee”.
Last year, Germany announced a package of four IRIS-T SLM systems, and at the end of May this year, the German Foreign Ministry announced the additional allocation of four more such SAMs.
Odesa is likely to receive one of these air defense systems. But this is only an assumption of Auto24, made on the basis of an analysis of the speech of Serhiy Bratchuk mentioned above.
Several European countries, based on Ukraine’s experience of using these systems in combat, are already negotiating with the manufacturer of such systems, Diehl Defense (Germany), to purchase IRIS-T SLM. In particular, Slovenia, Estonia, and Latvia have already announced this.
It has become known from open sources that the cost of one IRIS-T SLM complex varies between 140 and 180 million euros.
