Germany is advancing a €4 billion arms deal with an Israeli company for a key weapon for the Sky Shield Initiative, despite calls for an arms embargo.
The plans for a European defense system in the style of the Iron Dome remain controversial after Germany choose to stick with an Israeli arms manufacturer to build the multi-billion euro weapon that forms its backbone.
Founded in earnest in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, the European Sky Shield Initiative has 21 Member Statesincluding the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland, Greece and Finland, which agree to cooperate on how defense systems are acquired, maintained and used to support each other.
The weapons will eventually be integrated into a pre-existing NATO mission that “protects Alliance territory…against any air or missile threat or attack,” according to its website.
The core of this initiative is the Arrow 3an Israeli-American missile defense system capable of intercepting long-range ballistic missiles.
The technology was recently showcased when Israel used it to shoot down Iranian missiles directed against them following an attack on an Iranian embassy in Syria earlier this year.
A spokesman for the German Federal Ministry of Defense told ‘Euronews Next’ in July, nine months after the conflict began, that “there is no change: procurement continues as planned.”
Why is the German order controversial?
On September 28, 2023, the German Bundestag signed a declaration of intent to a 4 billion euro agreement with Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI), a division of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), for its weapons system Arrow 3 developed jointly with the American Boeing.
Nine days later, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, precipitating the war in Israel’s Gaza that has caused more than 39,000 deaths according to the United Nationsand the displacement of more than 2 million civilians.
The weapons system Arrow 3 is a family of interceptor missiles that “vstalk, detect, track and kill“incoming attacks “far from their target,” with a fully automated control system, according to a user information of the IAI on the system. It was developed by the IAI in cooperation with the American Boeing.
IAI claims the Arrow 3 is “the most affordable defense system available.”
Shay Gal, vice president of external relations at IAI, stated a ‘Defence News‘ this week that they have “increased shifts and hired more workers” to install the Arrow 3 in Germany sometime next year.
And study suggests that Israel will be the world’s ninth largest arms exporter in 2024, with the Germans as one of its three main clients. German weapons also account for 30% of Israel’s total arms imports, with the rest coming from the United States.
The German government is also facing a lawsuit from the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights for its arms sales to Israel.
The European Union has not taken any decision to stop the import or export of weapons to Israel in light of its conflict with Hamas, despite calls for an arms embargo from the UN, 1,500 EU officials and the Government of Belgium, which held the EU presidency until June.
According to an EU spokesperson, the decision on arms exports lies with each member state.
ADVERTISINGHow will Sky Shield work?
The European Sky Shield initiative will have three levels of anti-missile defense: short, medium and long range.
These are the distances that each type of missile can protect:
- Short range: up to 15 km wide, up to six km high
- Medium range: 15-50 km range and up to a maximum of 25 km height
- Long-range: more than 50 km range and up to 35 km altitude
The German companies Rheinmetall and Diehl Defense are the main manufacturers of short and medium range defense systems Skyranger 30 e IRIS-Trespectively.
Hensoldt, a German sensor development company, will supply both companies with its radar technology.
ADVERTISINGRaytheon, of the United States, manufactures the PATRIOT long-range defense systemalthough the missiles themselves will be built in Europe, according to the German Federal Ministry of Defense.
Arrow 3 can protect countries from all types of missiles, according to IAI. It is the only system of the Sky Shield initiative that the Germans acquire from Israel.
Skyranger 30
For short range defense, the Germans opt for the Skyranger 30: a family of mobile ground defense systems which allows forces to monitor attacks from the air and from the ground at the same time, according to a description in the website de Rheinmetall.
In February, the Germans closed an initial contract with Rheinmetall for 600 million euros for up to 49 units of the Skyranger 30according to a press release.
ADVERTISINGThis occurred just weeks after Germany formed a consortium with Rheinmetall, Diehl and Hensoldt, which was tasked with integrating the country’s national air defense system for a cost of 1,200 million euros.
The Austrians acquired 36 air defense systems in February of the ESSI for their wheeled armored vehicles, a slight modification of the German model that will cost them at least 1.8 billion euros.
On the sidelines of the Eurostatory conference, held in June, Denmark and Hungary signed an agreement with Germany for the joint acquisition of the Skyranger 30 for their armies.
According to some reports, Lithuania is also considering the buying a Skyranger.
ADVERTISINGIRIS-T SLM
The IRIS-T SLM is a medium-range missile that uses infrared technology on your head to process images of incoming attacks, according to the German armed forces.
An SLM battery has three truck-mounted launchers with eight missiles each, all with a range of 40 kmalong with an independent command vehicle that tracks all missiles at the same time.
Ukrainians began using the IRIS-T system in 2022 during the Russian invasionsomething that, according to Diehl, shows that the system is “combat tested.”
IRIS-T is one of ESSI’s most popular systems: Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia and Germany signed agreements with Diehl last year.
ADVERTISINGOne of the largest agreements, the joint acquisition signed by Latvia and Estonia, amounts to 600 million euros.
Lithuania y Austria They are also considering the purchase of the IRIS-T system, according to media reports.
PATRIOT
The Patriot GEM-T system targets aircraft, cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles using a guided missile system.
The Patriot system is already uses in some EU countries, such as Sweden, Greece, Poland, the Netherlands and Spain.
ADVERTISINGRaytheon, the American company that created the Patriot system, collaborates with the German MBDA Deutschland through a joint company called COMLOG to build Patriot missiles in Europe for ESSI from a pre-existing center in Schrobenhausen (Bavaria) that already repairs and modernizes missiles.
NATO, in charge of the acquisition of Patriot systems, awarded COMLOG a €5.6 billion contract in January, the first under the Sky Shield initiative.
The contract pays 1,000 Patriot missiles to be used jointly by Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain.
Hensoldt received orders worth €1 billion due to its participation in ESSI projects in the first six months of 2024, according to a press release published on its website. website.
ADVERTISINGThrough this initiative, Hensoldt lends its sensor and radar services directly to the German Government, Latvia and Slovenia.
Diehl Defense, Rheinmetall, Hensoldt and Raytheon did not respond to requests for comment.
