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Germany Sends Ukraine 10 More IRIS-T Air Defense Systems
Germany just doubled down on its commitment to Ukraine’s air defense. On May 6, 2025, the German Ministry of Defense announced the delivery of ten IRIS-T air defense systems, an increase from the six systems previously supplied.
The latest shipment includes both the medium-range IRIS-T SLM and the short-range IRIS-T SLS variants. Perhaps most importantly, it comes with a new batch of precision-guided missiles.
For Ukraine, which faces daily missile and drone attacks, the timing could not be more vital.
Interestingly, when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was positioning for his current job, he was very critical of Scholz for not doing enough for Ukraine; specifically, he was talking about sending Ukraine the Taurus missile. Merz even said Ukraine should use it to strike Putin’s beloved Kerch bridge.
But now that he’s in charge, things have become very quiet.
Just days after taking office, Merz announced that Berlin would stop publicly reporting military aid to Ukraine. Standing in Kyiv last week, Merz told German broadcasters that under his leadership, the whole discussion about “caliber, weapons systems, and deliveries” will now be handled off the record.
