Diehl, Lockheed Martin to explore IRIS-T missiles for Mk41 launcher

PARIS — Diehl Defence and Lockheed Martin will explore integration of the German company’s IRIS-T missiles into the American company’s Mk41 VLS, the most widely used vertical launch system in Western navies.

The two firms will also look at the possibility of integrating IRIS-T in the Aegis Weapon System, Diehl said in a Nov. 18 statement. The integrated naval-weapons system is used by countries including the United States, Spain and Norway.

European operators of the Mk41 VLS such as Germany, the Netherlands and Norway currently rely on U.S. missiles such as the SM-2 and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile for naval air defense. Integrating IRIS-T could strengthen the continent’s autonomy in defense, something the European Union has been pushing for.

With Diehl and Lockheed Martin teaming up, “navies around the globe can benefit from the optimum for air defense systems on their surface combat vessels,” Diehl Defence CEO Helmut Rauch said in the statement.

The Mk41 system is used by 17 navies and has been deployed on more than 200 ships, according to Lockheed Martin. The basic module consists of eight cells pre-loaded with missiles and fitted below decks, with the largest strike variant able to equip the Tomahawk cruise missile.

Countries that operate both the Mk41 VLS in their navies and the IRIS-T system for ground-based air defense include Germany and Norway, with Denmark in the process of becoming a user of both through the purchase of an IRIS-T SLM system.

Diehl and Lockheed Martin signed a memorandum of understanding, with the next step to explore in detail the possibility of integrating the IRIS-T family of missiles in the Aegis system and the Mk41 VLS, they said.

The companies in October agreed to explore cooperation on missiles for the Patriot ground-based air-defense system.

Germany this year requested to buy a number of Typhon strike-missile launchers from the United States, a containerized, land-based version of the Mk41 VLS. A Diehl spokesman told Defense News the Typhon use case was not part of the new agreement, only naval applications.

The main European alternative to Lockheed Martin’s Mk41 VLS is Naval Group’s Sylver VLS, which is used by France, Italy and the United Kingdom and launches MBDA missiles including Aster for air defense, as well as the Naval Cruise Missile.

Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication with a statement from Diehl according to which only naval launch applications are being considered in the IRIS-T and MK41 integration scenario.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——德国迪尔防务公司和洛克希德·马丁公司将探讨将德国迪尔防务公司的IRIS-T导弹整合到美国洛克希德·马丁公司的Mk41垂直发射系统中，Mk41是西方海军使用最​​广泛的垂直发射系统。

迪尔在11月18日的一份声明中表示，两家公司还将研究将IRIS-T系统集成到宙斯盾武器系统的可能性。包括美国、西班牙和挪威在内的多个国家都在使用这种一体化舰载武器系统。

像德国、荷兰和挪威这样的Mk41垂直发射系统欧洲用户目前依赖美国提供的SM-2和改进型海麻雀导弹等导弹进行海上防空。整合IRIS-T系统有望增强欧洲大陆在国防领域的自主性，而这正是欧盟一直以来所推动的。

Diehl Defence 首席执行官 Helmut Rauch 在声明中表示，通过 Diehl 和洛克希德·马丁公司的合作，“全球海军都可以在其水面作战舰艇上获得最佳的防空系统”。

据洛克希德·马丁公司称，Mk41系统已被17个国家的海军采用，并部署在200多艘舰艇上。基本模块由8个预装导弹的单元组成，安装在甲板下方，其中最大的打击型能够搭载战斧巡航导弹。

德国和挪威等国家在其海军中同时装备了 Mk41 VLS 和用于地面防空的 IRIS-T 系统，而丹麦正在通过购买 IRIS-T SLM 系统成为这两种系统的用户。

迪尔和洛克希德·马丁公司签署了一份谅解备忘录，下一步将详细探讨将 IRIS-T 系列导弹集成到宙斯盾系统和 Mk41 垂直发射系统中的可能性。

10 月份，这些公司同意探讨在“爱国者”陆基防空系统导弹方面开展合作。

德国今年向美国提出购买一批“台风”（Typhon）打击导弹发射器，这是一种集装箱式陆基版本，类似于Mk41垂直发射系统。迪尔公司的一位发言人告诉《防务新闻》，新协议中并未包含“台风”导弹发射器的用途，仅涉及海军应用。

洛克希德·马丁公司的 Mk41 垂直发射系统在欧洲的主要替代品是法国海军集团的 Sylver 垂直发射系统，法国、意大利和英国都在使用它，该系统可以发射 MBDA 公司的导弹，包括用于防空的 Aster 导弹以及海军巡航导弹。

编者按：本文发表后进行了更新，迪尔公司发表声明称，IRIS-T 和 MK41 集成方案仅考虑海军发射应用。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。