Deterrence against Putin: Iron umbrella over Germany – Arrow 3 is coming

An "Arrow-3" interceptor missile launches from an Israeli military base. © Israeli Ministry Of Defense//ISRAELI MINISTRY OF DEFENSE/dpa

Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine has made it clear: Germany's air defense is inadequate. A so-called Iron Dome is supposed to help. Berlin relies on Arrow 3.

It would take a little more than 100 seconds for an intermediate-range missile from Russia to reach targets in Germany. While during the Cold War, such a threat situation was part of people's everyday lives and a nuclear first strike had to be expected at any time, in the recent past an expansion of air defense in Germany played a rather subordinate role – other countries also set their priorities elsewhere. Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, an attack on Germany from the air is still considered unlikely, but Arrow 3 is intended to upgrade air defense and create a missile shield.

Germany relies on Arrow 3: Air defence to be strengthened from 2025

Plans to upgrade German air defense with Arrow 3 have been concrete since May. The Ministry of Defense plans to launch from 2025. While the purchase was already decided between Israel and Germany last August, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) announced progress in the talks in May 2023. "At Arrow, we are working at full speed on the negotiations with Israel on the intergovernmental agreement. I'd say we're just about to enter the home stretch." The politician expects a contract to be concluded in the coming half of the year.

As Business Insider now reports, the purchase of the Arrow 3 system is expected to cost just under four billion euros and financing has not yet been secured. Nevertheless, it is clear that Germany is getting an "Iron Dome" with the Arrow 3 missile defense system. The advantages of the Israeli system are obvious and sound almost like science fiction at first glance: Arrow 3 can use defensive missiles to intercept medium- and long-range ballistic missiles – at an altitude of up to 100 kilometers.

Reinforcement for Iris-T: Germany's air defense relies on Arrow-3 system

According to information from Business Insider, the budget committee of the Bundestag will finally give the green light for Arrow 3 next week and vote on a million-dollar bill. While the Arrow 3 system will now cost around four billion euros, the question of financing still arises. According to the report, the Ministry of Defense could make up for the difference in costs, which were initially estimated at about two billion euros, by cutting costs on other armaments projects.

In order to be able to make a necessary advance payment of almost half a billion euros this year, the federal government around Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) apparently wants to ask the budget committee to agree to an unscheduled expenditure. If everything goes according to plan, Arrow 3 could probably be used in Germany from 2025.

Arrow 3 in Germany: reinforcement for European air defense

The operation of the Arrow 3 missile system is based on several mobile launchers connected to a mobile radar station. In order to strengthen Germany's air defense in a targeted manner, the Bundeswehr could strategically distribute several launchers over the Federal Republic of Germany, so that a so-called Iron Dome could be created. "Iron Dome" is actually wrong from a technical point of view, since the term is, strictly speaking, an Israeli system that is used on the ground to defend against rockets, artillery and mortar shells. Arrow 3 picks up on this principle, but operates against other targets.

0

Also Read

Gruber demo against climate policy of the traffic light: Söder comes as a speaker

READ

Renewed Trump indictment: What that means and what happens next

READ

Russia's next president: Will Mikhail Mishustin succeed Putin?

READ

Dam explosion as a gamechanger in the Ukraine war? Military expert assesses new situation

READ

"Putin's decline": President shies away from citizens' questions on state TV

READMone area

In the future, Arrow 3 in Germany could become part of a European air defense system and also protect allied NATO states due to its range. In combination with the German Iris-T system and the well-known Patriot systems, a powerful air defense system over Germany is to be created in the future.

European Sky Shield: Germany sees itself in a leading role – Arrow 3 strengthens air defence

In a report at the beginning of 2023, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs criticized Germany's weak leadership role in European air defense and criticized Germany's stance on the issue, although Germany clearly wants to take the lead in European air defense with the European Sky Shield Initiative. Before the outbreak of the Ukraine war, efforts to expand an efficient air defense system had progressed only with difficulty and had regularly fallen victim to austerity measures. The core of the institute's criticism was also that systems used in Germany (such as Mantis or Ocelot) can only be used to a limited extent against current threats.

The conclusion in January 2023: "At present, Germany has some outdated and too few systems to ensure sufficient protection." A common protection in the sense of the European Sky Shield could thus be difficult to achieve. However, the procurement of Arrow 3 was considered an efficient solution. In order to protect the European continent from ballistic air strikes, the US is also operating the Aegis Ashore system in Romania as part of NATO's Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) mission and, from 2023, in Poland. (Feb