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IRIS-T
BERLIN–Momentum is building with Diehl Defense for a potential integration of its IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missile on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Senior company officials say they have “discovered a way” to kick-start an integration, but that they need other operating nations to follow suit.
“We are pushing Germany to try and push other users of the missile to encourage integration,” Harald Buschek, Diehl’s chief program officer, told reporters on the eve of the ILA Berlin Air Show here on June 9.
The only short-range air-to-air missiles currently integrated onto the various makes of the F-35 are the RTX AIM-9X Sidewinder and the MBDA Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM). In both cases the weapons are fitted on external wingtip pylons.
The limited number of options open to F-35 customers have meant that IRIS-T customers have often been forced to acquire stocks of an additional air-to-air missile, usually the Sidewinder. Italy, for example, has acquired the AIM-9X even though its Eurofighters use the IRIS-T.
“The interest is there and there are more existing IRIS-T customers now buying the F-35,” explained Buschek. “We will see who we can get together, but if they get together, a requirement to integrate the IRIS-T on the F-35 could emerge ... the interest is there.”
The IRIS-T–short for InfraRed Imaging System–Tail/Thrust Vector Controlled–was developed by Diehl after Germany pulled out of the development of the British Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (Asraam) in the early 1990s to replace earlier models of the AIM-9 Sidewinder. It has since found success as a ground-based air defense weapon and has been scaled up and adapted for medium and long-range air defense as the IRIS-T SLM and SLX models.
IRIS-T is integrated into the Eurofighter, Saab Gripen, Lockheed Martin F-16, Panavia Tornado, Boeing EF-18, Korea Aerospace Industries KF-21 and Northrop F-5E. The weapon has also recently been integrated onto the Boeing F-15, having been adopted by Saudi Arabia for the F-15SA.
Diehl is now working on an upgraded IRIS-T known as Block II in an effort led by Germany and supported by Sweden, Spain and Italy and launched early last year. It will feature new hardware including a new infrared seeker, new electronics and proximity fusing systems.
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