The Russian drone and missile terror continues relentlessly against the Ukrainian civilian population. As Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius announced yesterday during his surprise visit to Kyiv, the Russian ruler has been particularly brutal in recent weeks.
This makes it all the more important that Germany has once again provided the Ukrainian army with state-of-the-art air defence in the form of another IRIS-T SLM fire unit.
As the 540th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade writes on its Facebook page, the unit recently received its first IRIS-T SLM fire unit and has now switched from the Soviet S-300 air defence system to IRIS-T SLM as its main system.
A well-informed source was able to confirm the delivery itself and other details independently of the announcement by the Ukrainian Air Force unit.
This means that Germany recently delivered the seventh IRIS-T SLM fire unit in total to Ukraine, which as usual had two additional IRIS-T SLS launchers integrated.
As usual, the fire unit also includes three IRIS-T SLM launchers, a TRML-4D air surveillance and target acquisition radar and a tactical operations centre, as well as various support elements such as logistical vehicles.
According to the 540th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, the unit deployed near Lviv was able to intercept a total of seven Russian cruise missiles during its first mission.
A record! Since the start of the Russian full-scale invasion more than three years ago, the soldiers have intercepted a total of 55 targets consisting of Russian drones and cruise missiles with their S-300 fire unit. However, they have never intercepted more than five targets per mission.
This means that the air defence system produced in Germany has already broken a record that may have stood for years in its first deployment with this unit and has completely fulfilled expectations.
This means that the positive reports about the air defence system marketed by Diehl Defence continue non-stop.
Just last week, the 11th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, which, like the 540th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, is part of the Air Command West, announced that the unit had managed to intercept eight Russian cruise missiles within just 30 seconds with a hit rate of 100%. Unrivalled perfection!
As things stand, the German government has committed to supplying a further 13 IRIS-T SLM fire units, each of which will include two additional IRIS-T SLS launchers, to Ukraine.
According to the German Ministry of Defence, 3 of the 13 fire units will be delivered to the Armed Forces of Ukraine by the end of the year.
It is a project with a tight schedule. However, the recent terrorist attacks by the Russian military in particular show that it is also a bitterly necessary project.
A closing quote from the German Minister of Defence: “Nobody can seriously assume that Vladimir Putin is interested in holding serious talks about a ceasefire, a truce, or even peace”.
There is nothing more to say than that.
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