Germany will send complex IRIS-T SLM surface-to-air missile systems to Ukraine, as well as rocket launchers and tracking radars to run into enemy howitzers, mortars and artillery, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced today.
“The government has to deliver the IRIS-T formula, the maximum fashionable air defense formula you can have in Germany,” Scholz said in a speech to the German parliament, according to a translation by German news site DW. “This will allow the Ukrainian government to protect entire villages from Russian missile attacks. “
Manufacturer Diehl Defense claims that the IRIS-T SL guided missile at the center of the formula can hit targets of up to 25 miles at altitudes of up to more than 12 miles. This would carry much-needed functions for an aging Soviet-era air defense. Arsenal that Ukraine has already put to smart use to prevent Russia from achieving air superiority. You can read more about this formula in our initial report indicating that Germany is contemplating sending it to Ukraine.
Scholz also promised to supply “advanced radar systems capable of locating enemy mortars and artillery. This is a resolution we have taken that will protect Ukraine with the most modern weapons. “
In addition, Scholz said Berlin would send several rocket launchers to Ukraine in coordination with the United States, according to DW.
“Ukrainian officials said those systems would be used to target Russian territory,” DW reported Wednesday morning.
DW did not specify which radars or delivery systems Scholz is referring to.
However, Germany’s Tagesspiegel news firm reported Wednesday that Germany will send Ukraine “four MARS II rocket launchers from the Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann weapons organization from its own reserves. “
According to Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann (KMW), the MARS II formula can fire a multitude of projectiles, with a maximum combat distance of about 43 miles for its guided multi-launch rocket formulas.
“In addition to the unguided rockets, the [MARS II/MLRS-E] [European Fire Control System] can recently fire the two variants GMLRS UNITARY (warhead) and SMArt (sensor fused ammunition artillery),” the company says at its parent. These are the same M30 and M31 guided rockets used through the US HIMARS and MLRS systems. USA MARS and the advanced MARS II are German-specific versions of the US-made M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS). “The U. S. is in development,” KMW adds.
Like the US M270, the MARS II formula consists of a tracked rocket launcher that can be loaded with up to 12 rockets at a time.
The Tagesspiegel cited “government circles” as a source of information, adding that “Scholz had not explicitly discussed it before in his speech to the Bundestag, because a corresponding agreement was reached with the United States in a very short time. “
The news firm provided a delivery schedule.
Contacted through The War Zone, Navy Lt. Col. Anton Semelroth, a Pentagon spokesman, referred questions about the MARS II formula to German officials. We have asked the German for feedback and will update this story if he responds.
We also contacted KMW to learn more about mars ii formula delivery plans in Ukraine. We will update this story if they respond.
Arguably, the IRIS-T formula is Germany’s most complex surface-to-air weapon. Diehl Defence, which makes the IRIS-T air defence formula, told The War Zone it is in business.
“With regard to the Chancellor this morning, we are looking for an issue on which the federal government will have to decide,” David Voskuhl, spokesman for Diehl Defence, which manufactures the IRIS-T system, told The War Zone on Wednesday morning. . .
Voskuhl declined to comment further, citing “privacy reasons. “
Although those systems are complex and offer a very flexible air defense capability up to mid-ranges, depending on the variant, they are in limited quantities. It is unclear how many sets would have to be shipped and whether the sets would be diverted from an existing customer’s order, such as Egypt’s, or not.
“It will take time, months,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told lawmakers, according to Reuters, adding that the system, created through arms maker Diehl, was originally intended for “another country. “
Either way, the promise of IRIS-T SLM to Ukraine would mean the most complex surface-to-air missile formula to date towards the country.
Scholz’s announcement follows Tuesday’s promise from the U. S. president. U. S. Secretary of State Joe Biden has been to supply “more complex rocket and ammunition systems that will allow them to reach more key targets on the battlefield. “On the same day, a senior U. S. official briefed reporters ahead of an official announcement scheduled for today, it was shown that the weapons systems in question were the M142 high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS).
As Russia continues its advance on the Donbass, Ukrainian demands for longer-range fire become more urgent.
“We appreciate the help of the United States that increases our ability to protect our country,” a Ukrainian official told The War Zone on Wednesday morning.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone. com
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