German procurement of the Arrow 3 would plug ICBM MDS capability gap, says GlobalData

Following the news that Germany is considering procuring a new missile defense system, namely Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Arrow 3;Madeline Wild, Associate Defense Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, shares her view:

“The procurement of the Arrow 3 would allow Germany to protect itself against the threat of inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), an issue which has been pushed into the spotlight by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The batteries of Patriot MDS’, used by Germany and several NATO members, are effective in protecting against many air-based threats, but current variants are unable to shoot down ICBMs. The Arrow 3, an exo-atmospheric hypersonic anti-ballistic missile system, is capable of protecting Germany against ICBMs.

“Arrow 3 entered service with Israel in 2017 after a decade long development program. The program was developed by IAI in conjunction with Boeing and received $1.2 billion in aid from the US government between 2008 and 2019. The US National Defense Authorization Act 2021 set aside a further $77 million for Arrow 3. The missile defense system (MDS) intercepts threats in space with a hit-to-kill warhead capable of defeating ballistic missiles that may be carrying a range of warheads.

“If Germany were to procure the Arrow 3 it would reinforce the established defense industrial relationship between Israel and Germany. Germany has been leasing five IAI Heron UAVs from Israel since 2018, and Rafael and Diehl Defense created a joint venture to supply the Bundeswehr with Spike missiles.

“The German defense budget may have previously struggled to offer the necessary funds to cover a major procurement program such as this. However, the recent commitment to spending at least 2% of its GDP on defense by 2024, gives the Bundeswehr more flexibility in acquiring the necessary platforms to fulfil its strategic security requirements.”

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