How Diehl Defense reports that the company’s short-range air-to-air missile Iris-T (AIM-2000) was fired for the first time as a guided missile from the new KF-21 fighter jet of the Korean manufacturer Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). Diehl sees this test firing as “another significant milestone in Korea’s most important fighter aircraft program”.
The successful firing this month follows on from earlier successes in testing Iris-T on KF-21: Just a few months after the aircraft’s maiden flight in early 2023, a safe exit behavior test was conducted in May of the same year by firing an unguided missile in flight. In May, the guided missile was guided by the on-board AESA radar and successfully hit the target drone. According to Diehl, this end-to-end test proves “the first air-to-air capability of the combat aircraft” and underlines “once again the outstanding performance of Iris-T”.
“I congratulate KAI on the outstanding performance of the KF-21 development program. At Diehl Defence, we are proud to be part of this success story with the Iris-T air-to-air missile.
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Diehl Defence-CEO Helmut Rauch
The manufacturer Korea Aerospace Industries and Diehl Defence have been working closely together since 2017 to achieve this goal (-> Diehl Defence and KAI intensify cooperation). Thanks to the smooth cooperation, both companies have achieved further successful integration of Europe’s most advanced short-range air-to-air missile. Helmut Rauch, CEO of Diehl Defence, said: “I congratulate KAI on the outstanding performance of the KF-21 development program. At Diehl Defence, we are proud to be part of this success story with the Iris-T air-to-air missile.” https://militaeraktuell.at/fragestunde-im-nationalrat-mit-verteidigungsministerin-tanner/ The successful live firing of the KF-21 is also an important milestone for the track record of the Iris-T program itself. With the upcoming integration into the KF-21, Iris-T underlines its compatibility with both proven and modern fighter aircraft. As recently as February, KAI and Diehl Defense agreed to begin integrating Iris-T into KAI’s FA-50. With Iris-T on board, both platforms, KF-21 and FA-50, will be ready for demanding missions.
So far, Iris-T has been used in fighter aircraft platforms such as Panavia Tornado, Eurofighter TyphoonJAS-39 Gripen from SaabF-16, EF-18 and F-5. The system is in service or under contract with several NATO countries as well as in Brazil, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
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