Israel on Wednesday handed over its Arrow 3 long-range missile defense system to the German Air Force in a ceremony at an airbase south of Berlin, completing a 4 billion euro ($4.6 billion) sale, the largest defense export deal in Israel’s history.

The completion of the sale, which was formally signed in September 2023, marked the first time the Arrow 3 system has been deployed beyond the borders of Israel and the United States, and the first time the advanced system was operated independently by another country.

The system was deployed at the Holzdorf Air Base in eastern Germany, some 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Berlin, with additional sites to follow.

From the Israeli side, the ceremony was attended by Defense Ministry Director General Amir Baram; the chief of the ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research & Development, Danny Gold; Israel Aerospace Industries CEO Boaz Levy; the director of Israel’s Missile Defense Organization, Moshe Patel; and other top officials.

German media reported that German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Chancellor Friedrich Merz would not be attending the ceremony, but other German military and defense officials were present.

“As a second-generation Holocaust survivor, I stand here deeply moved because a ballistic missile defense system, developed by the finest Jewish minds in Israel’s aerospace industry, out of our existential necessity, will now help defend Germany,” Baram said at the ceremony, according to remarks........

© The Times of Israel