The 5th generation, air-to-air missile IRIS-T is the latest and most capable replacement for the AIM-9 legacy Sidewinder missile. IRIS-T is a joint development of Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden, with Diehl BGT Defence as industrial prime contractor also having design authority. IRIS-T provides the pilot with an unmatched full sphere launch capability under all modern countermeasure conditions, including blinding laser. The missile was introduced in service with all IRIS-T consortium air forces at the end of 2005. The first export contract was signed with Austria for their Typhoons in the same year. In 2008 South Africa procured the IRIS-T missile for their JAS 39 Gripen, followed by the Royal Saudi Air Force to equip their Typhoons in May 2009.

IRIS-T with its unique imaging seeker can be launched under any flight condition of the launching aircraft from very short to beyond visual range as well as in Lock-On Before Launch (LOBL) or Lock-On After Launch mode (LOAL).The missile is capable of acquiring and destroying a variety of targets, ranging from low-signature objects such as UCAVs and cruise missiles up to large aircraft. IRIS-T outmaneuvers all targets using the missile's dogfight optimized thrust vector control.

IRIS-T is the only SRAAM worldwide with an anti-missile capability in self-defence.
The software-based, air-to-air and ground-to-air dual-use missile with an outstanding growth potential for future upgrades, was developed to be Sidewinder-compatible (mechanically and electrically). IRIS-T is the standard SRAAM for Eurofighter / Typhoon (5 of 6 Typhoon operators have selected IRIS-T) and JAS 39 Gripen. The missile is also employed on F-16, F-18 and TORNADO. Integration studies on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are under contract.

IRIS-T, the latest-generation IR missile, truly revolutionizes air combat.

This system is based on the concept of the IRIST air-to-air guided missile and complies with the German Air Force‘s new requirements for a secondary missile for ground-based, mediumrange air defence within the trilaterial MEADS program. Via standardized plug & fight data interface, the IRIS-T SL system can be integrated worldwide into future networked air defence command and control systems.

With the IDAS missile system developed together with the submarine shipyard HDW, a submerged submarine can for the first time engage enemy anti-submarine warfare helicopters, small surface vessels and land targets near the coast with highest precision. Main missile components include the imaging IR seeker taken over from IRIS-T, a fiber-optic data link between the control console and the missile as well as a solid-propellant rocket motor providing IDAS with a mission range of approx. 20 km. Furthermore, reconnaissance results and target images obtained by means of the seeker can be immediately evaluated in the submarine.

This guided missile has been designed for army air defence. Its high-sensitivity IR seeker enables direct hits against targets with low IR signature such as fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, missiles, drones and UAVs/UCAVs at long range and behind cover. Its penetrator warhead is able to also engage armored targets or assemblies such as a helicopter‘s rotor head. Diehl BGT Defence and LFK/MBDA Deutschland cooperate in the system‘s development.