Germany considers purchasing missile defence system from Israel or US

The German weekly Welt am Sonntag revealed that Berlin is considering purchasing a missile defence system from Israel or the United States to fight against threats such as Russian Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad.

 

In an interview released on Saturday, Germany’s chief of defence, Eberhard Zorn, said that the Iskander missiles can reach practically all of Western Europe and that there is no missile shield in place to fight against this threat.

 

‘Israelis and Americans both have such systems. Which one is our favourite? Will NATO be able to construct a comprehensive missile defence system? These are the questions we must address right now,’ Zorn remarked.

 

He did not mention the systems’ names, but he was most likely talking about the Arrow 3 system developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the THAAD system developed by Raytheon in the United States.

 

In 2018, Russia announced the deployment of Iskander missiles to its Kaliningrad exclave, which is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania. The Iskander, a mobile ballistic missile system that replaced the Soviet Scud, has two guided missiles that can deliver conventional or nuclear warheads.

 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced in a landmark speech days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 that Berlin would increase defence expenditure to more than 2 percent of GDP by infusing 100 billion euros ($110 billion) into the military.

 

Zorn is one of a panel of senior officials who are advising Scholz on how to spend the money.

 

‘So far, only one thing is clear: We don’t have the time or money to construct these missile defence systems on our own because the missile danger is well-known,’ Zorn said.

 

He said that Berlin had begun looking into the procurement of short-range missile defence systems, which may be used to protect soldiers on the move or under threat while deployed, and that it now had to make a choice.

 

In addition, by 2032, the Bundeswehr will need to invest 20 billion euros to rebuild its ammunition stockpiles, according to Zorn.