Israel and Germany have begun negotiations to supply Berlin with the Arrow 3 missile defense system.

The announcement was made by the Israeli Ministry of Defense on Thursday.

It was stated that this week active negotiations with the German side were launched.

The purpose of preliminary negotiations of high-ranking officials of the defence and security sector is to develop options for a detailed agreement on the supply of the Israeli Arrow 3 system, which is designed to intercept long-range ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere.

Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman Moshe Fatal said that a potential sale of the missile defense system was a significant milestone and another step in strengthening relations between Israel and Germany.

“We still have weeks of work ahead before the negotiations are completed and the contract is ready for signing,” the Israeli official added.

It is noted that the upcoming agreement on the supply of the Arrow 3 missile defense system needs the approval of the United States, since the system was developed in collaboration with American defense companies.

German intentions to become the first country to acquire Israeli Arrow-3 missile defense system became known last year.

Arrow-3 is a system designed to provide missile defense by intercepting ballistic missiles when they are still outside the atmosphere. The system is considered to be one of the best of its kind in the world. Arrow 3, along with other air/missile defense systems, creates a highest level of Israel’s multilevel defense system.

The system was developed within the framework of a joint project between the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

In 2021, the work began on the development of an Arrow 4 even more advanced system. The main contractor of the new project is Israel Aerospace Industries. The American company Boeing and Israeli Elbit Systems are also involved in the project.

As previously reported, in early April Finland announced the purchase of the Israeli David’s Sling missile and air defense system.