LONDON — Israel Aerospace Industries, the maker of Germany’s future long-range anti-missile system, has increased shifts and hired more workers to meet a deadline for setting up a facility in Germany next year, a company executive said.
The extra effort follows the national logic of equipping the Israel Defense Forces as a priority while keeping international orders on track, Shay Gal, vice president for external affairs, told Defense News at the nearby Farnborough Airshow. from London.
“We can handle that and also keep the other businesses running on time,” he said. “I think the last almost ten months have proven that we can do this.”
The Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, when Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more than 1,100 civilians and security forces while taking hostages, including children.
After the attack, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu has faced increasing international criticism for violent tactics, which have led to significant Palestinian casualties and extensive destruction in the Gaza Strip.
The origins of the Arrow-3 agreement for Germany precede the outbreak of war. Lawmakers in Berlin approved the funding in June 2023, followed by a declaration between both countries’ defense ministries in September to use the missile defense project as a springboard for deeper cooperation.
Germany will be the first country, besides Israel, to implement the system. The deal, which costs about $4 billion, includes launchers, interceptors and the Green Pine radar, manufactured by IAI subsidiary Elta Systems, Gal said. MBDA’s German arm is also involved, manufacturing some components in Germany, he added.
Israeli forces successfully used the long-range system to intercept ballistic missiles fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Berlin wants to use the Arrow-3 to protect more than just German territory. Defense officials presented it as an important contribution to NATO’s missile defense through its European acquisition-focused element, the European Sky Shield Initiative.
The system has a range of 2,400 kilometers (nearly 1,500 miles), intercepting missiles outside the atmosphere at an altitude of up to 100 kilometers (about 62 miles), according to the German Defense Ministry.
The first installation will be placed at Holzdorf Air Base in eastern Germany in 2025, the ministry said in a November 2023 statement. Two more will come by 2030.
According to Gal, the German requirement to have the Arrow-3 equipped with NATO Link-16 technology, which provides protected data connectivity between military assets, has been resolved. Before the deal, the prospect of purchasing from a non-NATO supplier led to questions of compatibility among German defense experts and officials.
Israel’s missile defense doctrine prescribes that if the Arrow-3 misses its target outside the atmosphere, forces will fire Arrow-2 interceptors at the approaching threat to shoot it down, Gal said.
Germany also isn’t buying the old Arrow-2 for this purpose, but the country has “other systems” for the job, he told Defense News.
