Costs of four billion euros
Bundeswehr can buy Israeli air defense “Arrow 3”.
October 18, 2023, 8:56 p.m
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The “Arrow 3” system is intended to become part of air defense in Europe and close a gap in the defense. The Bundeswehr now receives the necessary funds to buy Israeli air defense.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the Bundestag’s Budget Committee has approved a further 4.4 billion euros for procurement and development projects for the Bundeswehr. Minister Boris Pistorius described this as a “clear sign of a changing era.” The largest newly approved project involves the procurement of the “Arrow 3” air defense system from Israel, with around four billion euros from the special fund.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz used the term “turning point” to promise that Germany would immediately invest two percent of its gross domestic product in the Bundeswehr and also set up a debt-financed special fund of 100 billion euros for the modernization of the troops.
(Photo: dpa)
“There is no acute risk of attack,” said Pistorius at the beginning of the week. “Arrow 3 is not being purchased to protect us from a threat now, but in the future because we notice that the dangers have gotten closer and that there is once again an aggressive neighbor in Europe.”
The first location will be Holzdorf
The Israeli system is intended to become part of air defense in Europe and close a gap in the defense. After the end of the Cold War, many capabilities were dismantled. In the case of Arrow, these abilities didn’t exist either.
The “Arrow” can destroy incoming rockets at an altitude of up to over 100 kilometers, i.e. outside the atmosphere and in early space. This is intended to make enemy missiles largely ineffective. The Holzdorf Air Base will be the first of three locations for the fire units. There should be a so-called initial qualification in 2025. For this purpose, a 70-ton radar will also be set up in Holzdorf.
The Holzdorf military airport on the state border between Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt is also to be home to 47 of the Bundeswehr’s 60 planned heavy transport helicopters. The Boeing CH-47F Chinook helicopters – easily recognizable by their banana shape – will be the future workhorse of the Air Force.