Israel has officially delivered its Arrow 3 long range missile defence system to the German Air Force, completing a €4 billion sale, the largest defence export deal in Israel’s history.
The handover ceremony took place on Wednesday at Holzdorf Air Base in eastern Germany, about 120 kilometres south of Berlin. It marks the first deployment of the Arrow 3 system outside Israel and the United States, and the first time the advanced capability will be operated independently by another country. Additional German sites will receive the system later.
Senior Israeli defence officials attended the ceremony, including Defence Ministry Director General Amir Baram, the ministry’s Directorate of Defence Research & Development chief Danny Gold, Israel Aerospace Industries CEO Boaz Levy, and Missile Defence Organization director Moshe Patel. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Chancellor Friedrich Merz were absent, according to German media, though other military and defence officials were present.
Baram told attendees he was moved by the significance of the moment. “As a second generation Holocaust survivor, I stand here deeply moved because a ballistic missile defence system, developed by the finest Jewish minds in Israel’s aerospace industry, out of our existential necessity, will now help defend Germany,” he said.
“We Israelis, descendants of Holocaust survivors, want to see Germany strong and prosperous, proud and leading in Europe and throughout the world. We deeply appreciate that Israeli systems are part of Germany’s renewed force build up. Today’s handover marks only the beginning for Israel and Germany. Our cooperation will strengthen and deepen — whether in the air, on land, or in space,” he continued.
He commended Berlin for removing an arms embargo on Israel. “Such an embargo should never have been imposed against Germany’s ally that is fighting murderous Islamist terrorism, whether it comes from Iran’s theocratic regime or from Hamas in Gaza. When Israel acts against nuclear threats, ballistic missiles, and terrorism, we are not only defending ourselves, we are protecting the entire Western world. We are doing the hard work, sometimes the ‘dirty work,’ that the entire world should be doing,” Baram added.
Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, highlighted the broader relationship between the countries. “Our partnership is strategic, and Germany is Israel’s most important ally in Europe. Today, we mark another milestone in this relationship. Who could have imagined that only 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the Jewish state, through the technologies it develops, would help defend not only Germany but all of Europe. My family, who fled Germany on the eve of the Holocaust, could never have foreseen this,” Prosor said.
The Arrow 3 intercepts ballistic missiles while they remain outside the Earth’s atmosphere. During a 12 day confrontation with Iran in June, Israeli forces recorded an interception rate of 86 percent against ballistic missiles launched by Iran and the Iran backed Houthi group in Yemen.
The deal is part of the German led European Sky Shield Initiative to strengthen continental air defence following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ahead of the event, Pistorius said: “For the first time, this gives us the capability for early warning and protection of our population and infrastructure against long range ballistic missiles.” He added: “With this strategic capability, which is unique among our European partners, we secure our central role at the heart of Europe.”
Both nations say the agreement reinforces deepening defence ties, which include joint drills and Germany’s procurement of the Israeli TROPHY active protection system for its Leopard 2 tanks, the first of which entered service last month.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
Follow us on:
