The German army receives the first Iris air defense system
The German army received, on Wednesday, the first of the Iris-TSLM air defense systems, four of which Berlin has supplied to Ukraine since October 2022, to confront the Russian threat.
During a ceremony at a military base in Todendorf in northern Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has deployed missiles as far as Kaliningrad, 530 kilometers in a straight line from Berlin.
Scholz stressed that failure to act appropriately would be negligence, and inaction would jeopardize peace here as well.
This Iris-TSLM system, manufactured by the German Diehl defense company, protects against drones, aircraft, helicopters and cruise missiles at a distance of 40 kilometers and at an altitude of up to 20 kilometers.
Berlin has ordered a total of six systems of this model, receiving the first version on Wednesday, and is expected to receive the other five versions by May 2027.
The German Chancellor pointed out that it is part of the Euro Sky Shield project, which Berlin launched in August 2022 in Prague and in which 21 countries participate.
The German project relies on three air defense systems: the German IRIS-T short-range defense system, the American Patriot medium-range defense system, and the US-Israeli Arrow-3 long-range defense system.
France didn’t join the Euro Sky Shield project, as it advocates an air defense system using European equipment.
In his speech, Scholz praised this project, saying, “We want as many countries as possible to have this system… What is emerging now is also a plan for European defense cooperation, beyond the realm of air defense”.
After delivering four IRIS-TSLM and three IRIS-TSLS systems to Ukraine, Berlin is set to supply Kyiv with eight of the former and nine of the latter, as Scholz explained, “We’ll deliver two of each this year, and the rest from 2025”.
Faced with the Russian threat, Washington and Berlin announced in July their intention to begin deploying long-range strike capabilities on a situational basis in Germany in 2026.
On Wednesday, Scholz once again defended this decision, which has drawn criticism in Germany from the far right and the far left, saying, “It’s about ensuring peace here and preventing war!”
