Europe accelerates the process of air defense integration.
According to foreign media reports, European countries have recently accelerated the process of air defense integration under the pretext of regional security threats.
The 14 European member states of NATO and Finland signed a letter of intent for an alliance of air defense systems called the European Sky Shield Initiative at NATO headquarters. It is reported that the signatories include Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, the United Kingdom and Finland.
European media pointed out that the "European Sky Shield Initiative" seeks to purchase Israeli "Arrow"-3, American "Patriot" and German IRIS-T SLM air defense system, etc., in order to build a multi-level integrated air defense system.
The European press speculates that the Israeli "Arrow"-3 air defense system may be the first choice of European countries. Using significant funding and other support from the U.S. government, Israel Aerospace Industries has been working with Boeing to develop the Arrow-3 air defense system since 2008. The system entered service with the Israeli army in January 2017 and shot down a Syrian surface-to-air missile about 3 months later.
One of the results of the joint development between Israel and the United States, the Arrow-3 missile defense system is a highly maneuverable medium-range missile interception system capable of intercepting ballistic missiles while they are still outside the atmosphere. The Arrow-3 is capable of intercepting ballistic missiles at altitudes of up to more than 100 kilometers and up to 250 kilometers. In addition, the interception method of the "Arrow-3" is similar to that of the "Standard-3" missile, and instead of using warhead interception, kinetic energy interception is adopted.
The Patriot missile is a new generation of all-weather, all-airspace air defense medium-range surface-to-air missile system manufactured by Raytheon in the United States, and the Patriot system includes eight two-in-one transport-launchers equipped with 32 missiles. The missiles were loaded in groups of four in M901 containers and carried by M860 semi-trailers. The missile was accompanied by the MSQ-104 combat command station, which was independently carried by a trailer.
The German IRIS-T SLM air defense system includes a fire control center, a target acquisition and target tracking radar, and 1 to 3 launch units, each equipped with 8 missiles. During the flight of the missile, the control unit automatically and continuously transmits target data to the missile. Since the target is moving, the control unit tells the missile to make the necessary course correction.
Figure 1 is the Israeli "Arrow"-3 air defense system; Figure 2 is the U.S. Patriot missile defense system; Figure 3 Figure 4 is the German IRIS-T SLM air defense system.
