IRIS-T air-to-air missile

The origins of the Iris-T go back to the 1980s when, during the Cold War, it was necessary develop substitutes for the short-range Sidewinder and Sparrow medium-range air-to-air missiles. Great Britain and Germany would be responsible for the short-range missile and the United States will be responsible for the medium-range missile, but in 1990 the project was cancelled and each country designed its own missile. It was then, that Germany decided to complete its project of a short-range missile with exceptional manoeuvrability and high resistance to countermeasures. In 1995, half a dozen other countries joined Germany, and finally in 2005 they were able to present the new Iris-T missile. It is a short-range infra-red guided missile capable of differentiating between countermeasures and its target, which makes it lethal once launched.

IRIS-T gallery and more info