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Germany’s 3B Euro Deal to Buy the Israeli Anti-Missile System Gets Approval from Biden
Edited by: TJVNews.com
It appears that the 3 billion euro deal for the Israeli anti-missile system is going full steam ahead after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with President Joe Biden last Friday in Washington, according to a March 8th report on the Globes.co.il web site.
Germany has been waiting several months for a US decision on the procurement of the Arrow 3 system from Israel, which would be partially financed by the Americans, Globes reported. Germany had already made the decision to buy Israel’s Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile system for an estimated €3 billion as part of its new defense strategy following the war between Russia and Ukraine, and the need for protection from Russia’s ballistic missiles.
The Jerusalem Post reported on Tuesday that In 2022, Germany’s attitude toward defense issues underwent a sea change following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Berlin’s recognition that if Moscow turned its military sights on Western Europe, that current defenses would be highly inadequate.
Currently, Germany possesses only the US Patriot missile defense system, which has had mixed results in the field, and is not viewed as necessarily adaptable to all of the many air defense threats countries face in 2023, the JPost reported.
This led the German government and the German military to press forward to get approval to purchase the Arrow 3 from Israel, and then later from the US.
The JPost also reported that although there are high hopes now from multiple countries and within elements of Germany that the parliamentary committee will approve the purchase, many are holding their breath until the approval is given. The issue was sensitive enough that sources insisted on staying anonymous.
Besides the Arrow 3 missile defense system, which is designed to shoot down longer range ballistic missile threats, Germany has also purchased the IRIS-T missile defense system to shoot down shorter-range threats, according to the JPost report. The IRIS-T has been used by Ukraine to shoot down cruise missiles and can also defend against other threats.
In September or October 2023, Israel will be delivering Heron drones to Berlin, according to German Air Force Spokesman Lt. Col. Matthias Boehnke who had spoken with the JPost. This is besides the missile defense issue.
This follows two to three years in which German air force personnel have been at the Israeli Air Force base at Tel Nof training with Heron drone simulators. In addition, the JPost reported that Boehnke also said that German Air Force Chief Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz would travel to the Jewish state for Israeli Independence Day in April along with a joint Israeli-German air force flyover of the Knesset as occurred in 2021.
Germany has also joined Israel and others in purchasing Lockheed Martin’s F-35 aircraft, with an expected delivery date of 2026, to replace its ageing Tornado class aircraft fleet, as was reported by Globes.
Israel has already approved the sale in talks with the Germans and has been waiting for the US green light on the matter before closing final details regarding deployment, timetables and manufacturing the required interceptors as part of the deal.
Globes reported that the Arrow 3 will be deployed alongside its existing US terminal high altitude area defense system (THAAD) with capabilities to protect against ballistic missiles, including missiles with unconventional payloads. German plans that were published last year will now move ahead for the procurement of Green Pine missile defense radar systems and several interceptor stations that will provide protection for large parts of Central Europe.
Germany’s plan for missile protection is called [European] Sky Shield [Initiative, ESSI, of which procurement of the Arrow 3 is only a part, as was reported by Globes. The aim is to handle threats ranging from rockets to hypersonic missiles, such as those operated by Russia. The cost of the plan will be enormous. The Globes report stated that so far, 17 countries have joined Germany, including Sweden and Denmark just last month – and it will form a collective defense concept for large parts of Europe bordering Russia, the new-old threat in the region.
It is already clear that Germany, due to its excellent relations with Israel and the US, will be responsible for operating a large part of the Arrow 3 system, including radar systems and interceptors that will be stationed in various places around the country, Globes reported.
