File image.
The Russian military has destroyed another IRIS-T medium-range air defense system of Kiev forces, the Ministry of Defense announced on June 4.
Footage released by the ministry showed the system being hit by an Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile armed with a fuel-air explosive enhanced-blast warhead somewhere in the Dnepropetrovsk region.
According to the ministry, the strike destroyed the system’s main radar, a command vehicle, one launcher and two other support vehicles.
Germany promised to supply Kiev forces with 12 complete IRIS-T SLM systems and 24 IRIS-T SLS launchers following the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. Just last month, the two countries inked a €2.2 billion deal on the supply of four additional SL systems.
The SLM has a range of 40 kilometers and a 20 kilometer altitude, while the SLS’ range and altitude is limited to 12 kilometers.
Both the SLM and SL are armed with modified versions of the IRIS-T infrared-guided air-to-air missile. The modified missile uses a GPS-aided inertial navigation system, with radar data link for command guidance during the initial approach. The infrared seeker head is activated at the terminal stage.
The heart of the system is the TRML-4D surveillance and target acquisition radar, which can be seen getting destroyed in the last strike. The radar is equipped with an active electronically scanned array sensor with a maximum range of 250 kilometers and the ability to track up to 1,500 targets at the same time.
It is unclear how many of the systems promised by Germany have been supplied to Kiev forces, so far. Nevertheless, most of those that arrived in Ukraine have been destroyed or damaged by the Russian military.
Many of Ukraine’s recent air defense losses were attributed to the Iskander-M. The tactical ballistic missile is said to have a range of nearly 500 kilometers and can be armed with different types of conventional warheads, weighing between 710 and 800 kg.
The highly-maneuverable missile is guided by a GLONASS-aided inertial navigation system. It can be also equipped with an optical seeker with a digitized scene-mapping area correlator system for terminal guidance.
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