With Russia continuing to pummel Ukrainian cities with missile and drone strikes,
a consensus has been reached among several nations.
Defense ministers of 14 NATO countries and Finland agreed to form a common air defense
procurement and deployment alliance called the “European Sky Shield Initiative” (ESSI).
As per reports, the effort will be lead by Germany and will aim create a European air
and missile defense system “through the common acquisition of air defense equipment and missiles
by European nations,” NATO announced Thursday. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht
said during a ceremony at NATO's Brussels headquarters where 14 countries signed a
letter of intent, according to Reuters. "With this initiative, we are living up
to our joint responsibility for security in Europe - by bundling our resources,"
Lambrecht said, according to Reuters,
"We need to fill these gaps quickly, we are living in threatening, dangerous times,"
Lambrecht said, "No decision has been taken
yet but I think it (Arrow 3) would be the right system,...that it would be a very good system for
the challenge in Europe" She added,
"We will work speedily on the first joint projects,
the joint purchase of Patriot units is one of them as well as of the modern system IRIS-T,"
As per NATO media release, the initiative will allow all participating nations to
jointly develop an air defense system using interoperable, off-the-shelf solutions.
It added, "This multinational and multifaceted approach offers a flexible and scalable way
for nations to strengthen their deterrence and defense in an efficient and cost-effective way"
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană during a press briefing after the signing ceremony said,
"ESSI aims to enable European allies to procure these much-needed capabilities better and faster,
and to optimize their costs. It should also bring synergy among the allies with similar
requirements, covering the full spectrum of the air and missile defense needs.
It should promote interoperability and integration with each other and
with NATO's integrated air and missile defense.”
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how NATO & Finland plan to field a multi
layered Air Defense system ? Let's check them one by one.
Arrow 3 is the most advanced
system of Arrow family and is designed to take out ballistic missiles including
intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). IAI, together with Boeing, has been developing
Arrow 3 since 2008 with considerable financial and other support from the U.S. government.
Arrow 3 entered service in January 2017 and it shot
down a Syrian surface-to-air missile about 3 months later.
The system has 3 components, Sensors, Battle Management Centre and interceptor missile.
The main sensor used is the Green Pine family of active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars.
The iteration of the radar is reported to have a range of
500 km or 310 miles and is capable of both target detection and continuous tracking.
The system is also thought to be connected to American AN/TPY-2 missile defense radar
operated in Israel by U.S. military. Though not certain, Space-Based Infrared
System (SBIRS) early warning satellites also feed the system with real-time information.
The interceptor is developed from previous Arrow 2
The Arrow 3 has patented exoatmospheric interception method including a two-stage
interceptor. Unlike Arrow 2, it uses a hit-to-kill technology in which the
interceptor carries a kinetic kill vehicle that rams in the target destroying it in the air.
An important aspect is that Arrow 3 can be launched within the approximate zone
before it is known where the target missile is heading and when the target
’s course is identified correctly, it can be redirected to engage it.
It is equipped with a gimbaled seeker and has a thrust-vectoring nozzle.
As per reports, the interceptor is capable of reaching an altitude of 100 km or 62 miles.
The missile is thought to have a reported range of up to 2,400 km
or 1,500 mi but the exact details are classified.
An Arrow 3 battery is thought to be capable of intercepting a salvo of
more than 5 ballistic missiles within 30 seconds.
Arrow 3, if deployed, will be the top layer.
The American Patriot Air Defense System is an all weather tactical mobile air defense system.
It is manufactured by defense contractor Raytheon and entered service in 1981. It has seen many
upgrades since then and the capability has improved a lot since the initial variant.
The system has the ability to defend against cruise and ballistic missiles,
drones as a well as different types of aircraft.
The latest variant of the Patriot is the Pac 3.
The Patriot Pac 3 uses a passive electronically scanned array radar. It is equipped with IFF
(Identification friend or foe) and electronic counter-countermeasure to resist jamming.
The radar has a range of around 160 km or 100 miles
Patriot Pac 3 introduced the new MIM-104F missile, which is also referred to as the PAC-3 missile.
It has reduced size compared to previous Patriot missiles and is more maneuverable.
The Patriot missile uses a Track-via-Missile (TVM) guidance system. After the
missile is launched , mid course guidance is provided by the mobile control centre
which uses the radar to direct the missile towards the target. In the terminal phase,
the missile acquires the target and relays the info to the mobile control centre which
performs the final course correction calculations and sends its back.
The missile uses 'hit to kill' strategy though it has a small high fragmentation warhead to
enhance the kill probability. The warhead also known as 'Lethality Enhancer’ has 24 tungsten
fragments which are launched in radial direction increasing the probability of interception.
For aerial targets, like aircrafts & drones, Patriot MIM-104F missile has engagement range of
160 km or 100 miles whereas for ballistic missile it has a range of about 30 km or 18.5 miles
The Patriot, if deployed, will be the middle layer.
The IRIS-T SL (Surface Launched) is a mobile,
medium-range surface-to-air guided missile designed and developed by
Diehl BGT Defence to meet future medium-range air defense needs of the German Air Force.
It has a high 'probability of kill' against unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned combat
aerial vehicles and other small maneuvering threats at very short and medium-range distances.
There are different models of the IRIS-T SL - IRIS-T SLS meaning Short Range which can
fire interceptors out to 8 miles or 13 km and IRIS-T SLM meaning Medium Range that can fire
interceptors at a range of 25-mile or 40 km and this is the variant which is being persuaded.
A single system has a Truck mounted radar,
a Mission Control Truck , 3 Launcher Trucks and Supply and service vehicles
The IRIS-T SLM launcher vehicle can deploy up to 8
missiles , each having a 11.4 kg or 25 kg, high-explosive fragmentation Warhead
The system can engage multiple targets simultaneously and offers 360° coverage.
The IRIS-T SLM missile is equipped with a global positioning system
(GPS) / inertial navigation system (INS) technology for autonomous navigation.
A radiofrequency (RF) data link is incorporated to transmit virtual
target data from an external radar to the missile during the flight.
A high-precision passive infrared seeker is incorporated.
The missile has high torque capability enabling it to pursue fast and agile
targets like a modern fighter jet and very good ECM-resistance and flare suppression
IRIS-T SLM, if deployed, will be the last layer.