How Sky Shield, Europe's proposed Iron Dome, would work and why it's becoming controversial
Plans for a European Iron Dome-style defence system continue to be controversial after Germany chose to stick with an Israeli arms manufacturer to build the multi-billion-euro weapon that forms its backbone.
Founded in earnest in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, the European Sky Shield Initiative numbers 21 member states, including the UK, Netherlands, Poland, Greece, and Finland, who agree to cooperate on how defence systems are procured, maintained, and used to support each other.
The weapons will eventually be integrated into a preexisting NATO mission that "protects Alliance territory… against any air or missile threat or attack," according to its website.
At the heart of this initiative is the Arrow 3, an Israeli-American missile defence system that can intercept long-range ballistic missiles.
The technology was most recently on display when Israel used it to shoot down Iranian missiles directed at them after an attack on an Iranian embassy in Syria earlier this year.
A spokesperson from Germany’s federal ministry of defense told Euronews Next in July, nine months into the conflict, that there "is no change - the procurement goes on according to plan".
Why is Germany’s order causing controversy?
On September 28, 2023, Germany’s Bundestag signed a declaration of intent for a €4 billion deal with Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI), a division of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), for its Arrow 3 weapon system jointly developed with the US’ Boeing.
Nine days later, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, precipitating the war in Israel Gaza war that has killed over 37,000 according to the United Nations, and displaced over 2 million civilians.
The Arrow 3 deal was formalised by the Bundestag in November.
The Arrow 3 weapons system is a family of interceptive missiles that “surveils, detects, tracks and kills” incoming attacks "far away from their target," with a fully automated control system, according to an IAI brochure for the system. It was developed by the IAI in cooperation with the US’ Boeing.
IAI claims the Arrow 3 is "the most affordable defence system available".
IAI did not reply to a request for comment on the deal.
Shay Gal, IAI's vice president of external relations, told Defence News this week that they’ve "increased shifts and hired more workers" to install the Arrow 3 in Germany sometime next year.
One study suggests that Israel is the world’s ninth-largest arms exporter in 2024, with the Germans as one of their top three clients. German weapons make up 30 per cent of Israel’s total arms imports as well, with the rest coming from the US.
The German government is also facing a lawsuit from the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights for its sale of weapons to Israel.
There’s been no decision by the European Union to stop the import or export of weapons to Israel in light of its conflict with Hamas, despite calls for an arms embargo from the UN, 1,500 EU civil servants and the government of Belgium, who held the EU presidency until June.
An EU spokesperson said any arms exports decisions are made by each individual member state.
How will Sky Shield work?
The European Sky Shield Initiative will have three tiers of missile defence: short, medium, and long-range.
These are the distances that each missile type can protect:
Short range: up to 15 km wide, up to six km high
Medium range: 15-50 km range and up to a maximum of 25 km altitude
Long range: more than 50 km range and up to 35 km altitude
German companies Rheinmetall and Diehl Defence are the main manufacturers of the short Skyranger 30 and medium-range IRIS-T defence systems, respectively.
Hensoldt, a German sensor development company, will supply both companies with their radar technology.
Raytheon from the US produces the PATRIOT long rance defence system, although the missiles themselves will be built in Europe, according to the German federal ministry of defence.
The Arrow 3 can protect countries from all types of missiles, according to IAI. It is the only system for the Sky Shield Initiative that the Germans are procuring from Israel.
Skyranger 30
For short-range defence, the Germans are choosing the Skyranger 30: a family of mobile ground defence systems that lets forces surveil attacks from the air and ground at the same time, according to a description on Rheinmetall’s website.
In February, the Germans closed an initial contract for €600 million for up to 49 units of the Skyranger 30 with Rheinmetall, according to a press release.
That came a few short weeks after Germany put together a consortium with Rheinmetall, Diehl, and Hensoldt, where they were tasked with integrating the country’s national air defence system at the cost of €1.2 billion.
The Austrians purchased 36 air defence systems under ESSI in February for their wheeled armored vehicles - a slight modification to the German model that will cost them at least €1.8 billion.
On the sidelines of the Eurostatory conference in June, Denmark and Hungary signed a deal with Germany for the joint procurement of the Skyranger 30 into their militaries.
Reports say Lithuania is also mulling a Skyranger buy.
IRIS-T SLM
The IRIS-T SLM is a medium-range honing missile that uses infrared technology in its head to process images of incoming attacks, according to the German armed forces.
One battery of the SLM has three truck-mounted launchers with eight missiles each, all with a range of 40 km, along with a separate command vehicle that tracks all missiles at the same time.
The Ukrainians started using the IRIS-T system in 2022 during Russia’s invasion, something Diehl argues shows that the system is "combat-proven".
The IRIS-T is one of the more popular systems under ESSI, with Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia and Germany all inking deals with Diehl in the last year.
One of the biggest deals, the joint procurement signed by Latvia and Estonia, is worth €600 million.
Lithuania and Austria are also considering a buy of the IRIS-T system, media reports say.
PATRIOT
The Patriot GEM-T system targets aircrafts, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles through a guided missile system.
The Patriot system is already being used in some EU countries, like Sweden, Greece, Poland, the Netherlands, and Spain.
Raytheon, the US developer of the Patriot system, is working with Germany’s MBDA Deutschland through a joint venture called COMLOG to build Patriot missiles in Europe for ESSI out of a preexisting site in Schrobenhausen, Bavaria that already repairs and modernises the missiles.
NATO, in charge of procuring Patriot systems, gave COMLOG a €5.6 billion contract in January, their first under the Sky Shield Initiative.
The contract pays for 1,000 Patriot missiles that will be jointly used by Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain.
Hensoldt brought in order intakes worth €1 billion due to its involvement with ESSI projects in the first six months of 2024, according to a press release on their website.
They are providing their sensor and radar services directly to the German government, Latvia, and Slovenia through the initiative.
Diehl Defence, Rheinmetall, Hensoldt, and Raytheon did not respond to a request for comment.
