Ukraine’s IRIS-T Takes Two Missiles Down With a Single Interceptor, Neutralizes 45 Threats in Half a Year
German-made IRIS-T surface-to-air missile systems in service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to prove their high efficiency in intercepting cruise missiles which are commonly regarded as difficult targets. In some unique cases, the efficiency of the complex can exceed 100%, thanks to the skill of the team operating the system and luck.
This is exactly what happened to a unit under the Air Command “West” of the Ukrainian Air Force. This Command’s press service published a really interesting story of the career of a battery commander, Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr, who met the outbreak of the russian full-scale invasion operating a Soviet Buk M1 missile system, and later on switched to another type of air defense system.
Although the Air Command “West” did not specify which one exactly, it mentions multiple hints, like the training Oleksandr had undergone in Germany or the attached photo of the battery commander himself next to the equipment he operates with markings representing all the aerial threats his team has eliminated.
It looks exactly like the command vehicle from the IRIS-T system, although it could be part of either a medium-range SLM or a short-range SLS system. The hatch that looks like a door is actually a ventilation outlet — see the reference photo below. There are also other minor details, such as technical markings or fasteners.
The most interesting of them, though, is the doubled cruise missile marking among the intercepted threats.
“We spend one missile per one target. That is, the efficiency is one hundred percent. We even managed to destroy six enemy missiles with five of ours. The russian missile exploded after being hit by our missile and destroyed another cruise missile with its debris,” Oleksandr said. Overall, he added, a total of 45 aerial targets have already been neutralized by this battery in six months of operation.
In contrast with this statement, only 39 marks were painted on this command vehicle. The reason is, the photo was made much earlier: for the first time a photo of this vehicle appears among the posts by Air Command “West” on July 3rd, it’s around this time when it was taken alongside with the interview. By the time it was published, the statistics were updated. Logically, within this 1.5-month lag, Oleksandr’s unit shot down six more russian aerial weapons.
Aside from these achievements, the very fact that the IRIS-T SLM is apparently used exclusively against cruise missiles is an interesting aspect, as it speaks of a clear hierarchy among various types of air defense systems in Ukraine’s arsenal, with defined roles based on the type of target each one is supposed to engage. It also indicates that the “lower-tier” anti-aircraft systems and weapons handed to mobile fire groups are effective enough for the assigned tasks.
The post mentions that throughout his military career, Oleksandr has destroyed 75 airborne threats. Accordingly, prior to his switching over to IRIS-T, the Buk M1 under his command intercepted exactly 30 hostile airborne units. Among those listed are two Su-34 tactical bombers and four helicopters, including a Mi-28 attack helicopter, all of them downed during the defense of Kyiv in early 2022. In addition, he is credited for ten cruise missiles and attack drones shot down when he was guarding the skies of Odesa Region.
