Israeli Arrow Missile Production Moves to the U.S.
By moving some of its production to the states, Israeli IAI is preparing for a day, a decade from now, when Israel must spend all its U.S. military aid money on U.S.-made weapons
13:2505.09.18
Israeli defense contractor Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) announced Wednesday that the production of its Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile canisters had been moved to the U.S. The canisters, which contain electronic components capable of transmitting commands to the Arrow 3 missiles, will now be manufactured by Columbus, Mississippi-based Stark Aerospace, Inc., an IAI subsidiary.
Launch of U.S. manufacturing line of Arrow 3 canisters. Photo: Bella Vie Photography
According to an April report by the Congressional Research Service, a public policy research arm of the U.S. Congress, The U.S. pledged to provide $38 billion in military aid to Israel in 2019-2028. This Memorandum of Understanding, signed in 2016, replaced a previous 10-year agreement of $30 billion that covers 2018. The Memorandum of Understanding also states that beginning in 2019, Israel must gradually shift all its aid money spending to U.S.-made weapons.
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The Arrow 3 missile is designed to defend against long range, high altitude, precise ballistic missiles threats. Jointly developed by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Arrow 3 is a central component of Israel’s multi-layered defense system that also includes David's Sling, Iron Dome, and Arrow 2. The Israeli Air Force began operational use of Arrow 3 in January 2017.
Launch of U.S. manufacturing line of Arrow 3 canisters. Photo: Bella Vie Photography By moving some of the production to the U.S., IAI is preparing for a day when Israel must spend the American military aid money it receives exclusively on systems manufactured in the U.S.
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In an interview with Calcalist, Boaz Levi, executive vice president of IAI’s missiles and space group, said that this is the first time that an IAI missile component is manufactured end-to-end in the U.S. Levi added that IAI intends to set up production lines of additional Arrow 3 components in the U.S. in future.
