Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz spoke with his German counterpart Christine Lambrecht and discussed strengthening the defense cooperation between the two countries, including pushing forward the sale of the Arrow-3 air defense system.

The Jerusalem Post reported about this.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany has increased its defense budget. It would set up a special fund of €100 billion in order to swiftly upgrade its armed forces.

They note that Israel will play a key role in helping Germany’s force buildup.

The information that Germany received approval for the purchase of “Arrow-3” appeared back in April. At that time, the newspaper reported that the value of the deal is about €2 billion. If the parties do agree, the system will be operational from 2025.

Negotiations are likely still ongoing to finalize the details of the deal.

Arrow-3 is a highly maneuverable system designed to provide full air defense by intercepting ballistic missiles while they are still outside the atmosphere. The system is one of the best in the world.

The latest generation Arrow 3 forms the highest level of Israel’s multi-layered defense system along with the Arrow 2, David’s Sling and the Iron Dome system.

At the same time, in 2021, the USA and Israel began to develop a new Arrow-4 anti-missile system.

As previously reported, Romania is considering the possibility of buying the Iron Dome from Israel.