Israel’s Arrow 3 missile-defense sale to Germany gets US nod

JERUSALEM — The Israeli government has announced that it will sell the Arrow 3 missile-defense system to Germany, a $3.5 billion deal, marking it as Israel’s largest defense export ever.

The sale was made possible after U.S. Department of State officials notified senior defense leaders here of the approval. The step is necessary because the system is a co-development between Washington’s Missile Defense Agency and the Israel Missile Defense Organization, led by local contractor Israel Aerospace Industries.

The Arrow 3 weapon is designed to intercept ballistic missiles during their flight paths outside Earth’s atmosphere. Its commercial production began following an intercept test in December 2015.

The Israeli Ministry of Defense noted on its statement that the next step in the sale to Germany is a signing ceremony of a “letter of commitment” between senior defense officials from both countries .

An initial commitment by Berlin of $600 million will kickstart work on the project, according to the ministry statement, with details for next steps to be agreed following the letter of commitment. The full contract should be ready to sign by the end of 2023 after lawmakers from both parliaments give their approval, the statement adds.

The deal comes after Germany declared Russia as its biggest security threat in Berlin’s first-ever National Security Strategy (NSS), released in June, and with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in the background.

The war exposed a shortage of defense systems in Western nations, especially ground-based, to counter missile and drone attacks.

“Arrow 3 is a groundbreaking system, the most advanced of its kind in the world, as well as a force multiplier in Israel’s air defense – soon in Europe, as well,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, said.

This deal is expected propel Israeli defense exports to a new record, following last year’s total of $12.5 billion, per the MOD.

Tzally Greenberg is the Israel correspondent for Defense News. He has experience reporting on economic affairs as well as defense and cyber companies.

耶路撒冷——以色列政府宣布将向德国出售“箭-3”导弹防御系统，这笔交易价值35亿美元，将成为以色列有史以来最大的国防出口。

美国国务院官员将批准通知以色列高级国防领导人后，这笔交易才得以达成。这一步骤至关重要，因为该系统是由华盛顿导弹防御局和以色列导弹防御组织联合研发，由当地承包商以色列航空航天工业公司牵头。

“箭-3”导弹武器旨在拦截地球大气层外飞行的弹道导弹。该武器在2015年12月进行拦截试验后开始商业化生产。

以色列国防部在声明中指出，对德军售军的下一步是两国高级国防官员签署“承诺书”。

据该部声明，柏林方面将先期承诺提供6亿美元，这将启动该项目的工作，后续步骤的细节将在签署承诺函后商定。声明还补充说，待两国议会议员批准后，完整的合同预计将于2023年底前签署。

在德国于 6 月发布首份国家安全战略 (NSS) 后，德国宣布俄罗斯是其最大的安全威胁，而莫斯科入侵乌克兰的事件也发生在这一背景下。

这场战争暴露了西方国家防御系统，特别是地面防御系统，在应对导弹和无人机袭击方面的不足。

以色列国防部长约阿夫·加兰特表示：“Arrow 3 是一款突破性的系统，是世界上同类系统中最先进的，也是以色列防空力量的倍增器——很快也将在欧洲发挥作用。”

据以色列国防部称，这笔交易有望推动以色列国防出口创下新纪录，去年的出口总额为 125 亿美元。

扎利·格林伯格是《防务新闻》的以色列记者。他拥有丰富的经济事务以及国防和网络安全公司报道经验。