IDAS (missile)

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IDAS (Interactive Defence and Attack System for Submarines) is a short-range missile currently developed for the new Type 212 submarine of the German Navy.

IDAS (based on the IRIS-T air-to-air missile) is primarily targeted against air threats, such as ASW helicopters, but also against small or medium-sized surface vessels, or near pre-selected coastal targets. It is currently being developed by Diehl BGT Defence and HDW, which is a part of Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS), to be fired from Type 212's torpedo tubes. IDAS will be fibre-optic guided and officially has a range of approx. 20 km. Four missiles will fit in one torpedo tube, stored in a revolver magazine. First deliveries of IDAS for the German Navy are scheduled from 2009 on.^[1]

The IDAS system is also the world's missile giving submarines the capability to engage air threats and the first tube-launched missile that does not emerge in a capsule, but is fired directly from the torpedo tubes.

IDAS is attracting great interest in other countries' navies.