Germany interested in acquiring Israeli anti-missile shield system

One of the unintended consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is the German government’s decision to re-equip and reinforce its armed forces. One of the key aspects of that effort is the addition of an anti-ballistic system to protect against Russian missiles, and the focus is on Israel’s Arrow 3.

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According to the Bild newspaper, the purchase of an Israeli missile shield system could also provide protective cover for neighboring EU states, parliamentary sources said.

Although the decision has not been finalized, the project would meet with the approval of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Social Democratic parliamentary majority.

«We must better protect ourselves against the threat from Russia. To this end, we quickly need an anti-missile shield for the whole of Germany. The Israeli Arrow 3 system is a good solution. We can also extend the Iron Dome over our neighboring countries. This would give us a key role in the security of Europe.» Said Andreas Schwarz, a member of the German Bundestag who sits on the parliamentary budget committee.

According to Bild, the system, which costs 2 billion euros, and could be operational as early as 2025.

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The Arrow 3 anti-ballistic shield

The Arrow 3 interceptor missile system, together with the ELM-2080S Super Greene Pine long-range scanning/early warning radar and the command and control station, make up the Arrow Weapon System (AWS) package, whose function is exoatmospheric defense against tactical and medium-range ballistic missiles.

The ELM-2080S Super Green Pine, a powerful L-band AESA radar with more than 2,000 transmitter/receiver modules (TRMs) and a range of more than 900 km, is capable of detecting ballistic missiles during their lift-off stage or their independent re-entry vehicles in space.

The target information is presented and studied in the command center and from there the launching of the Arrow 3 interceptor missiles is determined.

These will ascend to exoatmospheric altitudes and there release their interceptor vehicles, which, using updated radar data, will proceed to destroy the warheads of the enemy missiles.

German anti-missile shield

Super Greene Pine missile warning radar systems would be installed at three locations in Germany, providing 24-hour scanning and long-range warning. Their surveillance data will be communicated to the National Command Center at Uedem (Lower Rhine area), from where Germany’s air defense is managed.

The radar system is so powerful that it can cover Poland, Romania and the Baltic countries, which would give Germany a key role in European missile defense, and allow these countries to buy only Arrow 3 interceptors, relying for target detection on German radars, German parliamentarians said.

However, this would bring a reduction in the reaction time of Arrow 3s deployed outside Germany, since, by having their own ELM-2080S radars, they would be able to detect enemy missiles at a greater distance from their borders, gaining precious time for organizing the defense.