Germany will unveil and officially deploy the Israeli-supplied Arrow 3 missile defense system later this week, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
This $3.6 billion deal will be the first time that the Arrow 3 will be deployed outside of Israel. Continued movement on the issue comes on one hand as Berlin continues to buy weapons from Israel, while at the same time it is removing a temporary, but lengthy, weapons sales ban on Jerusalem over the recently concluded Israel-Hamas War.
A Defense Ministry statement in late 2024 said that a “professional meeting was held at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), led by the Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) at the Directorate of Defense Research & Development (DDR&D) of the IMOD (Israel Defense Ministry).
“The meeting included two days of discussions with participation from Israeli defense industries, including IAI, Elbit Systems, and MBDA Deutschland GmbH,” toward deploying the Arrow 3 before the end of 2025.
The Post learned back in 2024 that IMDO Director Mr. Moshe Patel, “Arrow 3” Project Head for Germany Colonel Carsten Koepper, and IAI’s Missiles and Space Division Head Mr. Guy Bar Lev were the lead parties, while the discussions also included representatives from IAI’s MLM Division and Elta.
Developed to counter long-range ballistic missile threats
Further, the ministry said in 2024 that the Arrow system, which includes the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptors, was developed in cooperation between Israel and the USA to counter long-range ballistic missile threats, with IAI as the prime contractor.
Although the deal to provide the Arrow to Germany was signed already in 2023, the strength of the deal was boosted three times by the system’s stellar performance in 2024 and again in 2025. On April 13 and 14, the Arrow was instrumental in shooting down the vast majority of the 120 ballistic missiles that Iran fired on Israel.
On October 1, the Arrow did not shoot down as high a percentage of the 180 Iranian ballistic missiles fired on Israel, with reports that some dozens struck the Nevatim and the Tel Nof air force bases, but it was still viewed as performing at a high level. Moreover, sources have indicated that Israel may have decided to “allow” certain ballistic missiles through to those
locations once it had already evacuated them of pilots and aircraft.
While both bases took on some significant damage, no pilots or aircraft were lost during the Iranian attack.
In June of this year, the Arrow once again shot down a high percentage of Iranian missiles during the 12-day war with the Islamic Republic. Though far from hermetic, and 28 Israelis were killed and a much larger number wounded, the physical and economic harm was still very small in military terms compared to the 550 missiles Iran fired.
The ministry said in 2024 that “The IMDO at the DDR&D continues to lead the development and production of Israel’s aerial defense layers while strengthening ties and cooperation with international partners in missile defense and supporting Israeli defense industries.”
The final agreement in a series of contracts for the deal was signed in November 2023, capping a process dating back years with a variety of delays from Israel, Germany, and the US – the latter of which had to approve the deal as a co-partner with Jerusalem in producing the system.
By September 2023, the deal seemed to be close to final when Defense Minister Yoav Gallant flew to Germany to sign a variety of critical documents, which moved the process forward.
Back in November 2023, the ministry said, “The Arrow-3 missile defense system constitutes the forefront of global technology, designed to intercept exo-atmospheric ballistic missiles.” It added that “the Arrow-3 system also carried out its first operational interception during the Swords of Iron war [Israel-Hamas War], successfully destroying a target launched towards Israel in the Red Sea region.”
That statement had been referring to multiple uses of the Arrow to shoot down ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthis against Israel under orders by Iran as part of the broader war against Hamas. The Arrow-3 system is co-developed and co-produced by the IMDO within the ministry and the United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
While IAI is the primary contractor for the weapon system’s development and production, the Arrow interceptors and radar detection system, and Elbit Systems is responsible for the development of the command and control system, Tomer and Rafael Advanced Systems are the main subcontractors for the development and production of the Arrow-3 interceptor.