Germany has received the Arrow 3 system for defense against ballistic and hypersonic missiles in a ceremony attended by Israeli military and industry executives.
The Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which produces the system, announced satisfactorily that the system has been delivered and will be activated as per contractual terms.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense highlighted the increasingly close and excellent relations with Germany, this also follows the lifting of the temporary embargo imposed by the German Government on the sale of weapon systems and equipment to Israel due to operations launched by IDF in the Gaza Strip.
The system was deployed by the Luftwaffe, which manages the long-range air defense and anti-missile defense of the Bundeswehr at the Holzdorf air base, about 120 kilometers south of the capital Berlin, evidently for the purpose to defend the country’s core political-military hub from the missile threat.
In 2022, when war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, the German government led by Chancellor Scholz, opened negotiations with the governments of Israel and the United States participating in the Arrow program for the purchase of this system.
The contract was concluded in 2023 with the forecast of the first systems deployment by the end of 2025, and operational status in 2026.
In the meantime, the Arrow 3 system was tested against missiles launched from Yemen and in conflict with Iran, shooting down dozens of missiles, avoiding greater damage to the Israeli State.
Currently, apart from the intercontinental missile defense systems of the United States, the only operational anti-missile system in the West capable of confronting long-distance ballistic and hypersonic missiles at the exo-atmospheric level is the Arrow 3, as THAAD and Patriot-3 MSE operate at short range and final phase against short and intermediate range ballistic threats; soon to be deployed the Aster 30 Block 1 NT capable of confronting intermediate-range ballistic missile threat.
Germany looking at Arrow 4 as well
Germany is reportedly ready to purchase additional Arrow 3 systems to ensure maximum coverage along with the Patriot GEM-T systems it owns; moreover, it would also be interested in the new Arrow 4 version currently in development, which is destined to replace the Arrow 2, which unlike the Arrow 3, is able to intercept short and medium range ballistic missiles with an explosive warhead rather than kinetic impact.
The Arrow system is made up of the hypersonic anti-missile interceptor Arrow, the Elta EL/M-2080 ‘Green Pine’ AESA early warning radar, the Elisra ‘Golden Citron’ (‘Citron Tree’) C3 fire control center and the ‘Brown Hazelnut’ (‘Hazelnut Tree’) C3 launch control center. The system is transportable and therefore can be moved to other prepared sites.
Photo credit @IAI and @German Ministry of Defense
