Germany is considering acquiring an Israeli missile defence system similar to what is known as the “Iron Dome”. Such an acquisition would be part of the country’s rearmament, which was decided after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Solz confirmed on Sunday night.

“I can reveal to you that this is certainly among the things we are discussing, and for good reason,” he told the public television network ARD, confirming information that MPs had given earlier yesterday to German media.

The decision has not yet been formalized, but the issue is on the table after Chancellor Soltz announced that 100 billion euros would be spent on modernizing the German Armed Forces and that Germany’s military spending would now reach at least 2% of GDP per year.

“We must better protect ourselves against the Russian threat. That’s why we need a fast-paced pan-German missile shield,” said Andreas Schwartz, the Bundestag’s special rapporteur on defence budget, a member of the chancellor’s Social Democratic Party (SPD).

“The Israeli Arrow 3 system is a good solution,” he said in a statement published in the Bild newspaper, referring to the Israeli system designed to deal with long-range missiles.

According to Bildt, this system, which – from a design point of view – is based on what is called the “Iron Dome”, will cost about 2 billion euros and may be “operational” – put into service – by 2025 in three locations in Germany.

“Given the threat and the various weapon systems that Russia has, we must certainly be interested, it makes sense,” Marie-Anjes Strack-Zimmermann, chairwoman of the Bundestag’s defence committee, told the Welt newspaper. 

The shield is strong enough to also cover Poland, Romania and the Baltic states, according to German sources. For its defence against long-range missiles, Germany already has the American Patriot system.

After years of lack of investment, Germany made a historic reversal of its military armaments policy in late February, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which was shocking to Berlin.

Source: Euronews.com

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