Germany declares Arrow Weapon System IOC

Lieutenant General Holger Neumann at the AWS-G IOC ceremony. (Bundeswehr/Francis Hildemann)

The Bundeswehr declared the initial operational capability (IOC) of the Luftwaffe's Arrow Weapon System-Germany (AWS-G) at Schönewalde/Holzdorf, east Germany, on 3 December.

The Luftwaffe said on its website later the same day that the anti-ballistic missile system is capable of intercepting targets outside the Earth's atmosphere at a height over 100 km and would provide protection for Germany and its allies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. As a logistic hub in Europe, Germany would in the event of a conflict be threatened primarily by long-range ballistic missiles such as Russia's new Oreshnik, against which before the AWS-G procurement the country was defenceless, according to the Luftwaffe, which added that it would fundamentally expand Germany's air-defence architecture. At the IOC ceremony, Inspekteur der Luftwaffe (air force chief) Lieutenant General Holger Neumann said, “With the Arrow Weapon System for Germany and the Arrow 3 missile, we're closing this capability gap – faster, more decisively, and more consistently than ever before.”

The German Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg) said in a press release on 3 December that AWS-G would expand Germany's air-defence architecture above the interception level of the Patriot air-defence system to include territorial air defence. German Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius said, “With the new Arrow system, we are expanding our air defences to include an outer layer. For the first time, this gives us the capability for early warning and protection of our population and infrastructure against long-range ballistic missiles. This strategic capability … secures our central role in the heart of Europe. In doing so, we are protecting not only ourselves but also our partners. We are thus strengthening the European pillar of NATO and fulfilling a NATO planning objective.”