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Germany Strengthens European Air Defense Capabilities With Israeli Arrow 3 Hypersonic Missile Interceptor.
Germany has declared initial operational capability for its Arrow 3 missile defense system at the Schönewalde Holzdorf air base. The move gives Europe its first exo-atmospheric interceptor and strengthens the continent’s protection against long-range missile threats.
On December 3, 2025, at the Schönewalde/Holzdorf air base south of Berlin, Germany formally declared initial operational capability for the Arrow Weapon System Germany (AWS-G), the German configuration of Israel’s Arrow 3 ballistic missile defense system, as announced by the German MoD and Israeli MoD. This marks the first time a European nation fields an exo-atmospheric interceptor designed to neutralize long-range ballistic missiles in space, closing a strategic gap in Europe’s air and missile defense architecture that NATO has warned about for years. The system’s entry into service comes against the backdrop of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine and increasingly explicit nuclear and missile signaling from Moscow, which have pushed Berlin to overhaul its defense posture after decades of underinvestment. With Arrow 3 now operational on German soil, Berlin is positioning itself as a central provider of protection not only for its own population and infrastructure, but also for neighboring allies across the continent.
Germany has declared its Arrow 3-based Arrow Weapon System operational, making it Europe’s first exo-atmospheric long-range ballistic missile interceptor and reinforcing continental air and missile defense. (Picture source: German MoD / Israeli MoD / U.S. Navy)
The Schönewalde/Holzdorf deployment represents the first operational Arrow site in Germany and the first time the system has been handed over to and operated by a foreign armed force. At the ceremony, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius emphasized that AWS-G adds “the outermost layer” to German air defense, giving the Bundeswehr, for the first time, an early-warning and interception capability against long-range ballistic missiles aimed at German territory. The initial battery, comprising radar sensors, launchers and trained crews, provides a limited but real protective coverage while further components are integrated and personnel are certified. Berlin plans to field Arrow at three locations, in the north, center and south of the country, and to reach full operational capability around 2030, at which point the system will form the top layer of a national and allied missile shield.
Technically, Arrow 3 is an exo-atmospheric, hit-to-kill interceptor designed to engage medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the mid-course phase of their trajectory, at altitudes above 100 kilometers and at ranges of up to roughly 2,400 kilometers. An operational battery is built around multiple towed erector-launchers, each mounted on a two-axle trailer carrying six sealed missile canisters that are raised to the vertical position and stabilized by hydraulic jacks before firing, giving the unit a salvo capability against several incoming threats in very short succession. The interceptor itself has two powered stages and is optimized for pure hit-to-kill engagements outside the atmosphere, using solid-fuel propulsion, thrust-vector control and a high-resolution electro-optical seeker to maneuver in space and collide directly with the target warhead instead of relying on fragmentation. Coupled with the Super Green Pine (EL/M-2084) long-range warning and fire-control radar, the Golden Citron battle management center and the Hazelnut Tree launcher control architecture, the system can launch interceptors into a designated volume of space even before the precise impact point of the hostile missile is known and is designed to cope with salvos of multiple ballistic missiles within seconds. This exo-atmospheric engagement is intended to minimize the risk that debris or the remnants of a nuclear, chemical or biological payload fall over populated areas. In German service, AWS-G integrates Arrow 3 launchers, long-range radar and battle management systems with the Luftwaffe’s broader Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) architecture, which already includes U.S. Patriot and German-made IRIS-T SLM batteries for lower-altitude threats.
The industrial and political dimension of the program is equally significant. Arrow 3 is jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, with Boeing and several Israeli firms, including Elbit Systems, Tomer and Rafael, responsible for major subsystems such as the radar, command-and-control suite and interceptor components. For Germany, the procurement is valued at roughly €3.3–3.8 billion, depending on the elements counted, and is widely described as the largest defense export contract in Israel’s history. At the handover ceremony, Israel’s defense ministry leadership underlined the historical symbolism of a system engineered in response to Israel’s own existential missile threats now serving to protect German cities and infrastructure, a message framed explicitly in light of the Holocaust and the transformation of Israeli-German defense relations over the past decades. The deal also reinforces trilateral ties between Berlin, Jerusalem and Washington, given U.S. funding and technology embedded in Arrow 3 and the need for American export approval.
Strategically, Arrow 3 responds to a concrete operational gap highlighted by the war in Ukraine. Since February 2022, Russia has repeatedly used ballistic missiles against Ukrainian targets, including systems that fly on steep trajectories and reach altitudes beyond the reach of most European air defenses. NATO analyses have long described the absence of a high-altitude ballistic missile shield over central Europe as a “strategic gap,” particularly in light of Russian systems capable of operating well above 100 kilometers and carrying conventional or potentially nuclear payloads. Germany’s central geographic position makes it a critical logistical hub for moving NATO reinforcements and supplies toward the eastern flank; securing this “land bridge” against long-range missile strikes has become a core requirement of the alliance’s new defense plans. By giving Berlin an exo-atmospheric interception capability, Arrow 3 plugs this gap and is intended to deter adversaries by complicating any calculus of missile coercion against European capitals and infrastructure.
Within Germany’s own “Zeitenwende” rearmament agenda, AWS-G is one of the flagship programs financed from the €100 billion special defense fund set up after Russia’s invasion. It complements ongoing investments in Patriots, IRIS-T, F-35s and heavy transport helicopters, and is slated to be a cornerstone of the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI), a German-led framework that now brings together more than twenty European countries to co-ordinate ground-based air and missile defense. Once all three Arrow sites are active, Germany intends to integrate their surveillance and engagement capabilities into NATO’s integrated air and missile defense command structure, enabling shared early-warning data and potentially providing coverage arcs that extend beyond German borders to partners such as Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic states. This approach seeks to make AWS-G not just a national asset but a contribution to the alliance’s collective shield.
The deployment also sends a political signal to Moscow and to European publics. In the days surrounding the Arrow ceremony, Russian President Vladimir Putin again framed Europe as “on the side of war” because of its support for Ukraine and claimed that Russia was “ready” if Europe wanted a conflict, rhetoric that reinforces NATO capitals’ perception of a persistent missile and nuclear intimidation campaign. By visibly investing in a system that has already demonstrated real-world intercepts against Iranian and Houthi ballistic missiles threatening Israel, Germany is signaling that long-range coercive strikes on European territory will face a growing set of defenses. At the same time, the decision to buy a non-European system underlines the urgency Berlin sees: instead of waiting a decade or more for a wholly European exo-atmospheric interceptor, Germany opted for a field-proven solution that could be delivered and brought to IOC within just a few years.
The Arrow 3 deployment raises broader questions about Europe’s long-term missile defense posture and industrial strategy. Israeli and U.S. partners are already working on Arrow 4, a future interceptor aimed at more complex ballistic threats, while Russia continues to develop new missile systems, including hypersonic glide vehicles and advanced cruise missiles that may stress existing defenses. European states are simultaneously upgrading other high-end systems such as the Franco-Italian SAMP/T and exploring new sensors, space-based early-warning and directed-energy concepts, creating a layered, multinational defense architecture in which AWS-G is one critical component among many. For Germany, maintaining this system over its life cycle, training sufficient crews and aligning rules of engagement within NATO will be as important as the hardware itself if Arrow 3 is to provide credible protection under crisis conditions.
The activation of Arrow 3 in Schönewalde/Holzdorf marks a turning point in how Germany and its allies think about protecting European airspace against ballistic missile threats. A capability that until recently existed only on Israeli territory and in NATO planning documents is now physically deployed in the heart of Europe, tied into German and alliance command structures and backed by a unique triangle of German, Israeli and U.S. cooperation. It signals that Berlin is prepared to invest heavily in shielding its population, infrastructure and the alliance’s logistical backbone from the kind of high-end missile attacks seen in Ukraine and the Middle East, and that Israel’s combat-tested missile shield has become an integral part of Europe’s security architecture. Beyond the symbolism, the challenge from today onward will be to translate this initial operational capability into a robust, fully integrated shield by 2030, and to keep pace with adversaries who are already working on the next generation of offensive systems.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.