Germany has asked Sweden to provide launchers for an anti-missile system compatible with IRIS-T.

Germany and Sweden are negotiating a new arms package for Ukraine, according to which Stockholm will supply air defense missiles and launchers for the German IRIS-T systems.

Bloomberg writes about this with reference to sources familiar with this issue. Germany has asked Sweden to provide launchers for an anti-missile system compatible with IRIS-T.

According to the sources, the discussions will also allow for more ammunition that can be used for the German IRIS-T systems sent to Kyiv.

It is noted that Germany intends to send three more IRIS-T systems this year after the first one arrived in Ukraine in October 2022.

As Bloomberg writes, the Swedish armed forces use IRIS-T missiles in their Robotsystem 98, which is launched from Swedish-made armored tracked vehicles. In November, the government of the Scandinavian country announced that it would supply Ukraine with an air defense system, without specifying it.

In turn, the German publication Spiegel writes that while Stockholm does not want to hand over the launchers, “European Truth” reports. During a visit to Stockholm, Vice Chancellor Robert Habek offered to provide a Swedish-made mobile “launcher” for IRIS-T-SLM. However, it has not been successful so far.

Spiegel notes that the Swedish-made launcher is capable of expanding the range of the system, which is already in service with Ukraine and would allow protecting large areas from Russian shelling.

Sweden received five IRIS-T-SLS systems in 2019. The second “S” in “SLS” means shorter range.

The Ministry of Defense of Sweden reported that the country is not yet a member of NATO, but the location in the neighborhood of Russia must always be taken into account when it comes to the supply of weapons to Ukraine. The department refused to comment on the issue of the supply of IRIS-T systems.

Weapons for Ukraine – IRIS-T air defense systems

IRIS-T is a medium-range anti-aircraft missile complex. It was developed by the German company Diehl Defense in 2014 and is designed to destroy cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as aircraft, helicopters and drones.

In October, the first German IRIS-T SLM air defense system arrived in Ukraine. Three more systems are expected this year.

At the end of January, it became known that Germany handed over a new package of military aid to Ukraine. It included missiles for the IRIS-T air defense system, trucks and pickups. Last December, Germany also handed Ukraine missiles for the IRIS-T air defense system.