From the mill to conflict in Ukraine. How the Germans built the IRIS-T SLM [COMMENT]

**Ukraine has late received an IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft strategy from Germany. This is the first set of Western production of this class, which can importantly strengthen the anti-aircraft defences there, so far supported — alongside much-needed very short-range sets — only by post-Soviet systems. However, what is the IRIS-T SLM strategy and why is it transferred almost straight from industrial plants and not from Bundeswehr equipment? **