The German company Diehl Defense held a ceremony to start construction of a new facility to expand the production of IRIS-T anti-aircraft missiles.

This was reported by Hartpunkt.

Construction of the new facility has begun in the community of Nonnweiler, where, according to the plan, both the company’s technology center and the production site for guided missiles, including anti-aircraft missiles, will be located.

The new facility is one of Diehl Defense’s steps to expand its workforce, with plans to increase from the current 700 employees to 800 by the end of 2025.

This expansion is important for the company, which has received a large number of orders for IRIS-T SLM missiles from both European customers and Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine has been actively using these missiles to repel Russian attacks, which has significantly reduced its stockpile.

“With today’s groundbreaking ceremony, Diehl Defense is starting to realize its growth forecasts in Nonnweiler in Saarland, just as it is doing in parallel at our other locations,” said Thomas Bodenmüller, CFO of Diehl Defense.

The IRIS-T SLM system is actively used by Ukraine and, according to official data, demonstrates the highest percentage of successful intercepts of air targets.

In addition, the system has been ordered by a number of countries, including Estonia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Germany itself.

These orders are part of the German initiative to strengthen the air defense of the European Sky Shield contingent.

Earlier, Militarnyi reported that Germany’s Diehl Defense acquired Dynamit Nobel GmbH, with which Ukraine has cooperation agreements.

With this acquisition, the company also acquired shares in Troisdorfer Genehmigungshaltergesellschaft mbH (TGHG), which manufactures explosives.