Israel and Germany meet at Arrow 3 sale | The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com | Hana Levi Julien | 1 Iyyar 5784

Photo credit: Israeli Ministry of Defense

Arrow in action — The Israeli Arrow air defense system in action during the War of the “Iron Swords”.

Officials from the Israeli and German defense ministries held a first working meeting this week at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for the production of the Arrow 3 weapons system for Germany.

The German Bundestag approved the purchase, including an advance payment of around 600 million euros ($648.5 million), in June 2023.

The Arrow Weapon System (AWS), comprising the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptors, was jointly developed by Israel and the United States for the interception of long-range ballistic missiles.

The deal, worth an estimated four billion euros and the largest arms deal in Israel’s history, was signed in late 2023 after US approval, with US funding involved in the development of the Arrow 3 system.

Largest sale in Israeli history: Germans approve 4 billion euros to buy Arrow 3

The system worked this year with great success against Iran’s missile barrage during its April 14 attack on Israel.

“Symbolically, this joint meeting took place during the week of Israel’s National Holocaust Remembrance Day,” the Israeli Defense Ministry said.

The meeting was led by the head of the Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO), part of the DDR&D program within the Israeli Defense Ministry; Moshe Patel, “Arrow 3” project manager for Germany; Colonel Carsten Koepper; and the head of the Missiles and Space division of the Israeli Aerospace Industries, Guy Bar Lev.

Representatives of defense industries also participated in the meeting, including the IAI MLM division, IAI/ELTA, ELBIT Systems and the German company MBDA.

The US Missile Defense Agency, which is not a party to the Arrow 3 sale, provided advisory support to IMDO.

“AWS is one of the most advanced systems against advanced threats and is based on the world’s best technologies,” noted the Ministry of Defense.

“IMDO continues its efforts to develop and produce a multi-layered missile defense for the State of Israel while promoting international partnerships related to ballistic threats. »