15 countries members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, among which are Latvia and Lithuania, have agreed on the creation of a European anti-air defence system as suggested by Germany.
A letter of intent for the creation of a European anti-aid defence system European Sky Shield was signed in Brussels by Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Finland on Thursday, 13 October. Estonia, too, plans to join this project.
German Minister of Defence Christine Lambrecht said the project’s goal is covering the breach in anti-air defence. She said that as Russia continues the war in Ukraine, we are living in a dangerous time with many challenges ahead.
Germany’s initiated project provides for combining various anti-air defence systems to counter ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as strike UAVs.
Iris-T is one such system. Germany recently supplied them to Ukraine even though German armed forces do not have them yet. Arrow 3 anti-air defence system developed by the U.S. and Israel is also considered to assist with missile interception.
«It is also important to acquire systems like Patriot, Iris-T and more modern anti-air defence system,» stressed Lambrecht.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced at the end of August that a European anti-air defence system would contribute to the safety of the entire Europe. This will also be cheaper than if each individual member state procured their own individual anti-air defence systems.