The Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) announced on 17 August 2023 that it had received approval from the US government to sell the Arrow 3 missile defence system to Germany, paving the way for a deal that, valued at USD 3.5 Bn (EUR 3.21 Bn), will be the largest in the country’s history.
US approval was needed because the Arrow 3 system was jointly developed by the Israel Missile Defense Organization and the US Missile Defense Agency, with Israel Aerospace Industries and Boeing as the prime contractors.
The Arrow 3 system, which was developed from 2008 and declared operational with the Israel Defense Forces in January 2017, is an exo-atmospheric hit-to-kill anti-ballistic missile defence (BMD) system that is reported to have a flight range of 2,400 km.
The IMOD stated that “Following the approval of the American administration, senior officials of the Israeli and German defence ministries will gather for a signing ceremony on a letter of commitment to start the deal. The commitment in the amount of USD 600 M will allow immediate start of work on the project. All the details of the contract have been agreed between the German Ministry of Defence and the Israeli Ministry of Defense and are being submitted for final approval by the German government and the legislature”.
It added that the signing of the full contract is expected around November 2023.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Chairwoman of the Defence Committee in the Bundestag, told the German Press Agency (dpa) that the country’s Arrow 3 system would be operational by the end of 2025. No details of how many Arrow 3 batteries Germany will buy have been released, but it has been reported that the system will be sited at three different locations: in Scheswig-Holstein, in Bavaria and near berlin. The system will initially be operational from 2025 at Holzdorf Air Base in Saxony-Anhalt.
“This is a historic agreement with far-reaching implications,” IMOD Director General Eyal Zamir was quoted as saying in an IMOD press release. “The deal is another pillar in strengthening the strategic-security relations between Israel and Germany and recognising the quality of the Israeli defence industry.”
Danny Gold, head of the IMOD’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development, was quoted as saying, “The American approval is a significant milestone in the strategic relationship between the State of Israel and the United States in the field of missile defence. A joint venture, with the USA, of the Arrow 3 advanced defence system strengthens the defence partnership with Germany and expands [it] to new areas.”
It is expected that the German Arrow 3 missile defence system will form part of the wider integrated NATO BMD network in Europe. The components of this currently include: a NATO BMD command centre at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, a US BMD radar hosted by Turkey at Kürecik, a US Aegis Ashore site at Deveselu Air Base in Romania, and an almost-operational Aegis Ashore site at Redzikowo Air Base in Poland. Spain also hosts four BMD-capable Aegis ships at its naval base at Rota.
US contributions to developing all tiers of the Arrow Missile Defence System (Arrow, Arrow 2 and Arrow 3) have totalled USD 4.5 Bn, according to the US Congressional Research Service.
Peter Felstead
