Kiev asks Germany to provide it with the latest anti-aircraft missile system

Alexander Sychev

We are talking, first of all, about the IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft missile system, as well as the Cobra (Counter Battery Radar) anti-artillery radar.

Cobra is in stock. It can be sent at any time, but the air defense system can either weaken its own air defense, or negotiate with NATO allies and offer them a postponement of the order. Therefore, the dispatch of the air defense system, according to the newspaper, if it happens, then by November. The production of the ten systems requested by Kiev will require even more time - from three to four years.

The IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft missile system is manufactured by Diehl Defense. In 2007, seven Western European companies began to develop the complex under the general control of Germany. It was assumed that the system would be the same for all European members of NATO. In 2009, the air defense system began to be tested. Five years later, the Bundeswehr adopted the complex. Deliveries to other countries have also begun.

The launcher and multifunctional radar, which tracks several targets simultaneously, are assembled on two wheeled vehicles. They are suitable for transportation on C-130 cargo aircraft.

The air defense system is designed to destroy strategic bombers, fighters, combat helicopters, anti-radar and cruise missiles, guided bombs and drones. The detection range and height are, respectively, 40 and 20 kilometers. The “dead zone” for the air defense system, when it can no longer do anything with the target and loses it, is a little less than one kilometer.

A three-meter vertical launch rocket, worth 400 thousand euros, was created for the complex from an air-launched IRIS-T rocket. They changed the engine to an improved one and installed automatic data transmission and GPS navigation systems. The missile is aimed at the target by the operator via a communication channel.

Since the missile itself does not have an active radar seeker, it cannot be intercepted by electronic warfare. But the control station is found and can be destroyed. Risks can be reduced by sending the missile to the area where the target is believed to be. The infrared seeker will detect and form an image of the target, the missile will transmit it to the operator, and he will give the order to destroy it.

Missiles are delivered in lightweight fiberglass unattended containers. Eight of these containers with missiles can be loaded onto the launcher using a manipulator in 10 minutes. In a cheaper version of the anti-aircraft missile system, missiles are installed individually, without a container. The missile has a fragmented warhead, which eliminates the possibility of detonation during transportation.

But the Cobra anti-battery radars, developed by a consortium of EADS Defense & Security, Thales Group, Airbus and Lockheed Martin for the Bundeswehr, Germany has 19 pieces available. Kiev asked for five, and it is possible that Berlin will not wait until November.

The active phased array radar scans the horizon and tracks projectiles and missiles, determines the exact coordinates of the launch, as well as the fall. This allows you to adjust the return fire of your units, as well as notify them of the threat of defeat.

The reconnaissance range is 40 kilometers. A crew of three or four can deploy the station in 10 minutes. Having started work, the station is able to simultaneously detect and determine the coordinates of 40 enemy firing positions in two minutes.

In cooperation with the Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzer, which the German government has already sent to Ukraine, Cobra will accurately suppress enemy artillery.

The station is assembled on a truck, which develops a speed of 60 kilometers per hour. At one gas station, the car can cover up to 550 kilometers.