With Bulgaria, the IRIS-T user family has increased to 20 countries, of which 9 nations have IRIS-T air defence solutions in use or opted for them. The procurement of the system not only represents an important milestone for Bulgarian air defence, but also further strengthens the ‘European Sky Shield Initiative’ (ESSI) and thus contributes to a comprehensive air defence for Europe and NATO. With further optional IRIS-T SLM and SLX units, the procurement represents a strategically important and at the same time forward-looking decision by Bulgaria for the international cooperation within ESSI.
The contract was signed on September 7th on the premises of the BAAINBw in Koblenz. Already last Thursday, Diehl Defence CEO Helmut Rauch met the Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, Minister of Defence Atanas Zapryanov and the German Ambassador to Bulgaria, Irene Maria PlankIrene Maria Plank, to discuss the outstanding cooperation in ESSI and the way forward. Diehl Defence would like to thank the new Bulgarian customer for the very constructive and fast process, as well as BAAINBw and the German Federal Ministry of Defence for the excellent support throughout the entire ESSI procurement process.
The IRIS-T (infrared imaging system tail/thrust vector-controlled) is a medium range infrared homing missile available in air-to-air and surface-to-air variants. It also is called AIM-2000. The missile was developed in the late 1990s–early 2000s by a German-led program to produce a short to medium range infrared homing air-to-air missile to replace the AIM-9 Sidewinder in use by some NATO member countries at the time. A goal of the program was for any aircraft capable of firing the Sidewinder to also be capable of launching the IRIS-T. The air-to-air variant was fielded in 2005.
Surface-to-air defence systems variants came later, with the short-range IRIS-T SLS fielded in 2015, and the medium-range IRIS-T SLM fielded in 2022. One IRIS-T SLM battery, as supplied by Germany to Ukraine, consists of three truck-mounted launchers, carrying eight missiles each (with a range of 40 kilometres or 25 miles), and a separate command vehicle that can be positioned up to 20 kilometres (12 mi) away. The command vehicle integrates multiple radar sources, and is able to launch and track all 24 missiles simultaneously. The IRIS-T SLM can counter surface-to-air missiles and cruise missiles, including low-flying, stealthy missiles such as the Kalibr.
