Germany Deploys Arrow-3 Missile Defense Battery at Former Nazi Base in Bavaria

Germany has announced the deployment of an additional Arrow-3 missile defense battery, produced by Israel Aerospace Industries, at the Kaufbeuren base in Bavaria, southwest of Munich. This follows the initial deployment of the first battery at the Schonwald/Holzdorf base near Berlin. The expansion aims to enhance Germany's capability to defend against ballistic missile threats, particularly from Russia, by intercepting missiles in space.

Unlike the Holzdorf base, built in the 1970s by East German authorities, the Kaufbeuren base was originally constructed in 1935 by the Nazi regime approximately 70 kilometers from the Dachau concentration camp. Officially an air force training base for the Luftwaffe, it covertly housed a secret Nazi intelligence agency overseen by Hermann Göring, who was a leading figure in the persecution of Jews and later committed suicide during the Nuremberg trials.

This agency functioned as the Nazi Party's signals intelligence (SIGINT) unit, conducting telephone interceptions and codebreaking of foreign communications. It monitored foreign diplomats in Berlin, decrypted British codes, including messages from Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain during the Munich negotiations, and intercepted encrypted Allied broadcasts.

Germany acquired the Arrow missile system and interceptors through two separate deals totaling $6.5 billion, marking the largest defense export deal in Israel's history. The Arrow-3 system's deployment at Kaufbeuren represents a significant upgrade in Germany's missile defense infrastructure amid ongoing security concerns in Europe.