Germany Proposes to Create an Analogue of Israel's Iron Dome for Europe

The chief executive of Europe's largest munitions manufacturer Rheinmetall is calling for a European version of Israel's Iron Dome - the installation of short-range air defence systems - as the EU struggles to deal with the growing Russian threat, the Financial Times reports.

Rheinmetall's Armin Papperger provides arguments in favour of such air defence systems. 

Currently, EU capitals are increasing their military spending amid growing concerns about Russia's threat to the continent and trying to address long-standing limitations in existing defence systems.

 "I also think it's a good idea to have a European solution like Iron Dome going forward," Papperger told the Financial Times.

"The Iron Dome has a range of up to 70 km and has been used by Israel since 2011 to intercept short-range missiles. Analysts dismiss the protection of large areas of continental Europe with such a system as far-fetched, but EU countries have invested in a number of air defence technologies.

As a reminder, in 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the European Sky Shield initiative, which he called a way to create a European air and missile defence system through joint procurement of equipment.

Twenty-one countries have joined the initiative. This angered French officials because it does not include European-made air defence systems, including the Franco-Italian SAMP/T from MBDA.

Rheinmetall followed this up by announcing that it had sold its short-range air defence system, the Skyranger 30, to the German armed forces for €600 million, which it said could be used against drones, among other things.

Developing better-integrated European air and missile defence systems is a priority for Brussels, which is pushing capitals to share technology to fill Europe's capability gaps.

The EU's Defence Strategy envisages "capabilities related to integrated European air and missile defence" by 2035, and a new sectoral proposal presented by the European Commission this month calls for budgetary support for a block of "European defence projects of common interest".

The EU is also working on a new defence strategy that aims to strengthen joint procurement and, for the first time, sets targets for procurement from producers within the bloc, as opposed to the US.