IRIS-T anti-air system firm’s factory on fire in Germany

German media reported that a fire with hazardous smoke had broken out at a metallurgical unit of the German defense sector business Diehl Metal Applications GmbH, which manufactures the IRIS-T system.

According to German magazine Spiegel, a fire at the Diehl facility in Berlin, which is part of a company that manufactures air defense systems for Ukraine, has not affected IRIS-T manufacturing.

A Diehl tech firm spokeswoman verified that the structure under fire belongs to them. According to reports, the Berlin business serves as a galvanizing facility for the car industry.

According to Adrian Wenzel, a spokesman for the Berlin fire service, the structure had entirely burnt through and a portion of it had fallen. Firefighting teams are attempting to extinguish the fire from the outside since it cannot be contained from the inside, he added.

According to German media, 160 firemen have responded to the fire.

Last July, reports surfaced that several Leopard tanks and IRIS-T surface-to-air missile systems handed to Ukraine were hit by Russian fire, causing them to be badly damaged and even destroyed in the process.

The Russian armed forces, using loitering munitions, eliminated a radar station of an IRIS-T air defense system.

The first IRIS-Ts were handed to Ukraine back in October 2022. German newspaper Der Speigel reported at the time that Berlin planned to deliver four systems to Kiev. The handover was made near the Polish-Ukrainian border.

The delivery was made at a time when reports had been saying for months the German military was running out of weapons that could be sent to Ukraine, with Kiev still projected to be dependent on defense assistance from Berlin.