Germany approves Arrow procurement

The Bundestag budget committee has approved the procurement of the AWS and Arrow 3 missiles for around EUR4 billion. (IAI)

The budget committee of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, has approved the procurement of the Arrow Weapon System (AWS) and Arrow 3 missiles, the German Federal Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on its website on 19 October. The procurement is worth around EUR4 billion (USD4.24 billion) and will be funded by the EUR100 billion Zeitenwende special fund approved by Germany after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, signed a joint declaration of intent in Berlin on 28 September on Germany's procurement of the AWS for the Luftwaffe, paving the way for the Israeli and German MoDs and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to sign a USD3.5 billion contract on the procurement, planned for November. In addition to the AWS and Arrow 3 missiles, the contract will include an initial package of spare parts and training of crews.

Visiting Holzdorf Air Base on 16 October, where Germany will base components of the AWS and CH-47F Chinook helicopters, Pistorius said the German federal government would spend EUR500 million on the base's infrastructure and the state of Brandenburg EUR1 billion by 2029. Germany will start basing AWS at Holzdorf in 2025.

The German MoD plans an initial operational capability for AWS by the fourth quarter of 2025 and a full operational capability in 2030. In addition to Holzdorf, AWS will be based in yet-to-be determined locations in northern and southern Germany.