Germany back in 2023 signed a contract with Israeli company Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for supplying Arrow 3 missile defense systems worth $3.5 billion. Already on December 1, 2026, at an airbase near Annaburg city in Saxony-Anhalt, the system was deployed and reached initial combat readiness.
However, it turned out that two days before official deployment, three unknown drones flew over this system. Moreover, Defense Romania noted that they flew at approximately 100 meters altitude directly over the radar station from Arrow 3 composition.
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A quick reaction unit quickly moved to the scene, deployed its own drone, and managed to establish visual contact with the intruder drone. After this, military tried to intercept it.
G27P assault rifles were used for this, equipped with Israeli Smash X4 smart sights, which have recently been actively promoted as a anti-drone solution. However, they failed to shoot down the unmanned aircraft, which then disappeared from the scene.
Later, German counterintelligence and military police classified this incident as an act of deliberate espionage. Defense Express adds that despite all importance of this system which, besides costing over $3.5 billion, is nearly Europe's only defense against russian Oreshnik and intercontinental ballistic missiles Germany couldn't protect it from three drones flying directly over it.
Although multi-layered air defense is always built around such objects. But now allowance can be made that this system was just put into operation, and such defense simply wasn't built yet.
Evidently, russians are primarily interested in this system, who probably stand behind these mysterious unmanned aircraft actively flying Europe in recent years, including over strategic objects. If anti-drone defense isn't strengthened in the future, or is insufficiently strengthened, then in case of war between russia and Europe, these systems will be destroyed almost first. Moreover, this will not require some modern expensive missiles, but only several drones.
The radar station in Arrow 3 is stationary. That is, its coordinates are already known in advance, and moving it to another location from under strike is simply impossible. Therefore, protecting such an object must be extremely dense and ready to counter both cruise missiles and strike unmanned aircraft and even small FPV drones, to avoid repeating the situation with SSU Spider Web operation.
As a reminder, despite first deployment in 2025, Arrow 3 system will achieve full combat readiness in Germany only in 2030. Also recall that Germany plans to deploy local production of Arrow 3 interceptor missiles and additionally purchase more such systems for 3 billion euros.
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