IRIS-T
Encyclopedia
The IRIS-T is a German
-led program to develop a short-range air-to-air missile
to replace the venerable AIM-9 Sidewinder
found in some of the NATO member countries. Any aircraft capable of carrying and firing Sidewinder is also capable of launching IRIS-T.
that the United States
would develop a medium-range air-to-air missile to replace the AIM-7 Sparrow
, while Britain
and Germany
would develop a short-range air-to-air missile to replace the AIM-9 Sidewinder
. The US design developed as the AIM-120 AMRAAM
, while the UK-German design started as the AIM-132 ASRAAM
.
ASRAAM started life in 1970 as a highly maneuverable design known as "Taildog
", but development ended in 1974 with no production orders. This work was dusted off for the UK/German effort, with the Germans providing a new seeker, and the British providing most of the remaining components. In the intervening time, the need for high maneuverability was downgraded in favor of greater range.
As the AIM-120 worked at long ranges up to 20 miles, the very short-range Sidewinders and original Taildog left a wide performance gap that needed to be filled. The original design was re-worked to produce a much less maneuverable design, removing the thrust vectoring, and thereby greatly improving speed and range.
After German reunification
in 1990, Germany
found itself with large stockpiles of the Soviet Vympel R-73
missiles (NATO reporting name: AA-11 Archer) carried by the MiG-29 Fulcrum and concluded that the AA-11's capabilities had been noticeably under-estimated. In particular, it was found to be both far more manoeuvrable, and far more capable in terms of seeker acquisition and tracking than the latest AIM-9 Sidewinder
. These conclusions led Germany to question certain aspects of the design of ASRAAM related to the airframe which was a British responsibility. Of particular concern was the lack of thrust vectoring
to aid manoeuvrability in close in air combat. When these concerns were raised, Germany and Britain could not come to an agreement about the design of ASRAAM, so in 1990 Germany withdrew from the ASRAAM project while Britain resolved to find another seeker and develop ASRAAM according to the original requirements.
In late 1990, the US partnership expressed similar concerns and embarked on an upgrade to the existing Sidewinder design to provide increased manoeuvrability and IRCCM (infrared counter counter measures) performance, i.e. measures to counter infrared countermeasures (IRCM). This program was designated AIM-9X.
, Italy
, Norway
, Sweden
and Canada
. Canada later dropped out.
Workshare arrangements for IRIS-T development are:
In 2003 Spain joined as a partner for procurement.
The Luftwaffe
took first delivery of the missile on 5 December 2005.
of the German Navy
. IDAS is supposed to engage air threats, small or medium surface vessels or near land targets.
program, the Luftwaffe
plans to integrate a land-launched radar-guided version of the missile, called IRIS-T SL.
: 770
: 350
: 25
:
: 150
: 450
: 500
: 500
: Undisclosed number to be delivered
: 10 (only 10 delivered out of an original order of 30)
: Unknown delivered and Order.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-led program to develop a short-range air-to-air missile
Air-to-air missile
An air-to-air missile is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid fuelled but sometimes liquid fuelled...
to replace the venerable AIM-9 Sidewinder
AIM-9 Sidewinder
The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried mostly by fighter aircraft and recently, certain gunship helicopters. The missile entered service with United States Air Force in the early 1950s, and variants and upgrades remain in active service with many air forces...
found in some of the NATO member countries. Any aircraft capable of carrying and firing Sidewinder is also capable of launching IRIS-T.
History
In the 1980s, NATO countries signed a Memorandum of AgreementMemorandum of Agreement
A memorandum of agreement or cooperative agreement is a document written between parties to cooperatively work together on an agreed upon project or meet an agreed objective. The purpose of an MOA is to have a written understanding of the agreement between parties.An MOA is a good tool to use for...
that the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
would develop a medium-range air-to-air missile to replace the AIM-7 Sparrow
AIM-7 Sparrow
The AIM-7 Sparrow is an American, medium-range semi-active radar homing air-to-air missile operated by the United States Air Force, United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, as well as various allied air forces and navies. Sparrow and its derivatives were the West's principal beyond visual...
, while Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
would develop a short-range air-to-air missile to replace the AIM-9 Sidewinder
AIM-9 Sidewinder
The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried mostly by fighter aircraft and recently, certain gunship helicopters. The missile entered service with United States Air Force in the early 1950s, and variants and upgrades remain in active service with many air forces...
. The US design developed as the AIM-120 AMRAAM
AIM-120 AMRAAM
The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM , is a modern beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile capable of all-weather day-and-night operations. Designed with the same form-factor as the previous generation of semi-active guided Sparrow missiles, it is a fire-and-forget...
, while the UK-German design started as the AIM-132 ASRAAM
AIM-132 ASRAAM
The AIM-132 Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile is an infrared homing air-to-air missile, produced by MBDA. It is currently in service in the Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force , replacing the AIM-9 Sidewinder...
.
ASRAAM started life in 1970 as a highly maneuverable design known as "Taildog
Hawker Siddeley SRAAM
The Short Range Air-to-Air Missile is an experimental British infrared homing air-to-air missile, developed between 1968 and 1980 by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics. It was designed to be very manoevrable for use at short range in a dogfight situation...
", but development ended in 1974 with no production orders. This work was dusted off for the UK/German effort, with the Germans providing a new seeker, and the British providing most of the remaining components. In the intervening time, the need for high maneuverability was downgraded in favor of greater range.
As the AIM-120 worked at long ranges up to 20 miles, the very short-range Sidewinders and original Taildog left a wide performance gap that needed to be filled. The original design was re-worked to produce a much less maneuverable design, removing the thrust vectoring, and thereby greatly improving speed and range.
After German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
found itself with large stockpiles of the Soviet Vympel R-73
Vympel R-73
The Vympel R-73 developed by Vympel machine-building design bureau, is the most modern Russian short-range air-to-air missile.-Development:...
missiles (NATO reporting name: AA-11 Archer) carried by the MiG-29 Fulcrum and concluded that the AA-11's capabilities had been noticeably under-estimated. In particular, it was found to be both far more manoeuvrable, and far more capable in terms of seeker acquisition and tracking than the latest AIM-9 Sidewinder
AIM-9 Sidewinder
The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried mostly by fighter aircraft and recently, certain gunship helicopters. The missile entered service with United States Air Force in the early 1950s, and variants and upgrades remain in active service with many air forces...
. These conclusions led Germany to question certain aspects of the design of ASRAAM related to the airframe which was a British responsibility. Of particular concern was the lack of thrust vectoring
Thrust vectoring
Thrust vectoring, also thrust vector control or TVC, is the ability of an aircraft, rocket or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine or motor in order to control the attitude or angular velocity of the vehicle....
to aid manoeuvrability in close in air combat. When these concerns were raised, Germany and Britain could not come to an agreement about the design of ASRAAM, so in 1990 Germany withdrew from the ASRAAM project while Britain resolved to find another seeker and develop ASRAAM according to the original requirements.
In late 1990, the US partnership expressed similar concerns and embarked on an upgrade to the existing Sidewinder design to provide increased manoeuvrability and IRCCM (infrared counter counter measures) performance, i.e. measures to counter infrared countermeasures (IRCM). This program was designated AIM-9X.
Development partners
In 1995, Germany announced the IRIS-T development program, in collaboration with GreeceGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Canada later dropped out.
Workshare arrangements for IRIS-T development are:
- Germany 46%
- Italy 19%
- Sweden 18%
- Greece 13%
- 4% split between Canada and Norway.
In 2003 Spain joined as a partner for procurement.
The Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
took first delivery of the missile on 5 December 2005.
IDAS
The IDAS variant is a navalized version of the missile, is also being developed for the new Type 212 submarineType 212 submarine
The German Type 212 class, also Italian Todaro class, is a highly advanced design of non-nuclear submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG and Fincantieri S.p.a. for the German and Italian Navy. It features diesel propulsion and an additional air-independent propulsion system using...
of the German Navy
German Navy
The German Navy is the navy of Germany and is part of the unified Bundeswehr .The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the revolutionary era of 1848 – 52 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy...
. IDAS is supposed to engage air threats, small or medium surface vessels or near land targets.
IRIS-T SL
Within the MEADSMeads
Meads is an area of the town of Eastbourne in the English county of East Sussex. It is situated at the westerly end of the town below the South Downs.- Boundaries :...
program, the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
plans to integrate a land-launched radar-guided version of the missile, called IRIS-T SL.
Combat performance
High ECM-Resistance, target discrimination and flare suppression and extreme close-in fight capability (60 g, 60°/s) and 5 to 8 times longer head-on firing range than the AIM-9L Sidewinder. Even targets behind the launching aircraft can be destroyed successfully by IRIS-T.Users
: 1,250: 770
: 350
: 25
:
: 150
: 450
: 500
: 500
: Undisclosed number to be delivered
: 10 (only 10 delivered out of an original order of 30)
: Unknown delivered and Order.
See also
- MBDA MICAMBDA MICAThe MBDA MICA is an anti-air multi-target, all weather, fire-and-forget short and medium-range missile system. It is intended for use both by air platforms as individual missiles as well as ground units and ships, which can be equipped with the rapid fire MICA Vertical Launch System...
- R550 MagicR550 MagicThe R.550 Magic is a short-range missile designed in 1968 by French company Matra to compete with the American AIM-9 Sidewinder. On 11 January 1972, a Gloster Meteor of the centre for in-flight trials fired the R550 Magic and shot down a Nord CT20 target drone .Mass-produced from 1976, the Magic...
- AIM-9 SidewinderAIM-9 SidewinderThe AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried mostly by fighter aircraft and recently, certain gunship helicopters. The missile entered service with United States Air Force in the early 1950s, and variants and upgrades remain in active service with many air forces...
- ASRAAM
- PythonPython missileThe Python is a family of air-to-air missiles built by the Israeli weapons manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. The first was the Shafrir 1 missile developed in 1959, followed by the Shafrir 2 in early 1970s...
- A-DarterA-Darter (missile)The A-Darter is a fifth generation short range infrared homing air-to-air missile, under development by South Africa's Denel Dynamics and Brazil's Mectron. It is expected to enter service with the South African Air Force, Brazilian Air Force and be offered for export...
- :Category:Air-to-air missiles
External links
- http://www.diehl-bgt-defence.de/index.php?id=564&L=1IRIS-T on the Homepage of German developer and manufacturer Diehl BGT DefenceDiehl BGT DefenceDiehl BGT Defence GmbH & Ko KG is a German arms manufacturer and a subsidiary of the Diehl Stiftung GmbH with headquarters in Überlingen. Diehl BGT Defence produces mainly missiles and ammunition....
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