Slovenia signs agreement with Germany to procure IRIS-T

Slovenia has signed a programme agreement with Germany to procure the IRIS-T SLM. (Diehl Defence)

The Slovenian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on its website on 6 December that it had signed a programme agreement with the German Federal MoD to buy the IRIS-T SLM (Surface Launched Medium Range) air-defence system from Diehl Defence. The agreement was signed by Slovenian State Secretary for Defence Damir Črnčec and his German counterpart, Benedikt Zimmer, in accordance with the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the joint procurement of air-defence systems under the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI).

The ESSI MOU was signed in August, establishing a mechanism for joint public procurements of air-defence systems, allowing interested countries to enter separate programme agreements on specific projects.

Fourteen NATO members and then alliance invitee Finland signed the first ESSI letter of intent in October 2022 and were joined by Denmark and Sweden in February 2023 and Austria and Switzerland in July 2023. The others are Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Romania, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.