Germany inked an agreement on Thursday to purchase the Israeli-made Arrow 3 hypersonic missile system, which will play an important role in Europe’s air defense.
The signing of the deal, the largest in Israel’s and its defense industry’s history, was hailed as a “historic day” for both countries by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who spoke alongside his Israeli colleague Yoav Gallant at a news conference.
Worth about $3.5bn (3.3 billion euros), the sale is the biggest ever deal for Israel’s military industry.
The Arrow 3 system would make “German air defence ready for the future”, Pistorius said.
Germany has led a push to bolster NATO’s air defences in Europe after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, urging allies to buy deterrence systems together.
“We can see with the daily Russian attacks on Ukraine how important antiair defence is,” Pistorius said.
The signing of the deal was a “moving event for every Jew”, looking back at the events of the Holocaust, Gallant said.
“Only 80 years since the end of the second world war yet Israel and Germany join hands today in building a safer future,” he said.
The Arrow 3 long-range missile defense system, designed to fire down missiles above the Earth’s atmosphere, is powerful enough to safeguard neighboring European Union states.
The system was conceived and manufactured by Israel and the United States, and the sale required Washington’s approval before it could be completed.
The device was first deployed at an Israeli airforce facility in 2017 and has since been used to safeguard Israel from Iranian and Syrian threats.
According to the manufacturer, Israel Aerospace Industries, the Arrow 3 is a “mobile system” that may be deployed depending on the threats.