Germany has formally approved the $4.3bn purchase of Israel's Arrow-3 missile defence system for the Sky Shield initiative

Germany has officially announced the purchase of the Arrow-3 missile defence system. This was announced on the website of the Ministry of Defence.

Here's What We Know

The German government agreed to purchase the Arrow-3 system back at the end of last month, signing a declaration of intent. A few weeks later, the acquisition was approved. Germany will spend $4.3bn on the purchase of Arrow-3.

The deal will be financed from a fund of more than $100bn, which was set up last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Arrow-3 is designed to intercept ballistic missiles and will be one component of a multi-layered air and missile defence system.

The Sky Shield initiative was launched last year. Its goal is to protect the skies over Europe. In addition to Arrow-3, Germany plans to use American Patriot surface-to-air missile systems and German IRIS-T.

Source: German Ministry of Defence