According to Kan 11 News, the Americans have approved the sale of Israel’s Arrow 3 system to Germany, a multi-billion-dollar deal that required permission from the US that financed parts of the system’s development project.
In mid-October, Reuters reported that Germany, Britain, Slovakia, Norway, Latvia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belgium, Czechia, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, and Slovenia got together in Brussels to sign a letter of intent indicating their plan to jointly purchase Israel’s Arrow3 defensive system.
The impetus for the European countries’ rush to purchase Israel’s latest missile defense system was the result of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s flagrant use of missiles against civilian centers in Ukraine (Terrified of Putin, 13 NATO Countries Want Israel’s Arrow 3).
Deutsche Welle reported last March that Israel’s successful record of shooting down thousands of Hamas rockets during the Gaza clashes of May 2021 “heightened the allure of missile defense” as Russia was launching missile volleys indiscriminately at Ukraine’s civilian centers. Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed at the time that “we have to be prepared for everything, seeing that we have a neighbor that is prepared to use violence to carry out its interests.”
Many more missiles have been launched by Putin’s failing army since March, and when Prime Minister Yair Lapid visited Berlin in mid-September, he and Scholz discussed a €2.5 billion purchase of Israeli-made anti-missile defense systems, according to a report in Maariv.
The Arrow 3 interceptor is part of the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Arrow Weapon System, the world’s first operational stand-alone Anti Tactical Ballistic Missiles defense system. Based on the uniquely effective Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptors, the Arrow modular air defense system detects, tracks, intercepts, and destroys incoming TBMs carrying a range of warheads and over a large footprint, thereby protecting strategic assets and population centers.
Last Wednesday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke on the phone and issued a statement saying they deliberated “the progress in supplying the Arrow 3 array to Germany, and agreed to continue to advance the process as soon as possible.”
According to the IAI, the innovative Arrow 3 interceptor is designed to intercept and destroy the newest, longer-range threats, especially those carrying weapons of mass destruction.
