The official announcement of the German missile defense system against Israeli-made Arrow 3 ballistic missiles achieving IOC is expected to take place in the near future – on December 3 of this year.
This was reported by the German specialized publication ESUT, noting that the event will take place at the Feuerwehr Holzdorf air base, located in eastern Germany, 70 km south of Berlin. It is worth mentioning that 98 million euros were planned to be spent on the development of this air base alone between 2024 and 2027.
Read more: Germany to Get Arrow 3 Missile Shield: Space-Based Defense That Covers All of Europe
Germany to Receive Protection from russian Oreshnik Medium-Range Missile in Early December Thanks to Arrow 3, Arrow 3 test launch / Open source photo
On the part of Defense Express, we would like to note that the achievement of Initial Operating Capability by the Arrow 3 system fully complies with the initial plan for the purchase of the Arrow 3 system by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in Israel, which was signed in September 2023.
The cost of the deal was $3.5 billion, and the delivery date of the system was by the end of 2025, which the manufacturers apparently managed to do quite well.
In general, the Bundeswehr plans to deploy Arrow 3 at two more sites, but their locations have not yet been disclosed. The system is planned to be fully deployed and brought to full operational readiness in 2030.
Recall that the Arrow 3 allows intercepting ballistic missiles, at least medium-range, outside the atmosphere by kinetic interception. This system should allow Germany to defend itself against attacks by missiles such as the russia’s Oreshnik Medium-Range Missile. At the same time, the Arrow 3 has already successfully proven its effectiveness in combating medium-range ballistic missiles during Israel’s repelling of Iranian attacks.
We should also add that in addition to the missile itself, an important part of the system is the EL/M-2080 Green Pine radar to detect and track ballistic targets, which in the updated Block-B version has a target detection range of up to 900 km.
EL/M-2080 Green Pine transportable multimode solid state active phased array radar / Open source photo
Currently, Germany’s only missile defense system is the Patriot PAC-3, which can intercept targets at altitudes of 20–30 km, depending on the source. The addition of Arrow 3 will significantly strengthen Germany’s missile defense capabilities.
However, while the Arrow 3 is optimized for intercepting ballistic missiles in space, it is not effective within the atmosphere.
To address this, Germany also plans to acquire the Arrow 4 system. While the name may suggest a more advanced capability, Arrow 4 is actually inferior to its predecessor in several respects. Still, it will fill the capability gap between the Patriot PAC-3 and the Arrow 3.
Arrow 4 interceptor missile
As Defense Express reported, earlier the UK Defense Intelligence explained why russia ’s Oreshnik missile is a new era of warfare.
Read more: Ukraine’s Intelligence: russia to Deploy New Oreshnik System in Belarus by End of 2025