21 October 2004
Berlin to Spend Billion on Missile Defense
DW-WORLD.DE

According to German press reports Thursday, Bundestag rapporteurs after years of research have finally approved what amounts to the largest current trans-Atlantic defense project.

At a time when Germany is tightening its defense spending and streamlining its military, parliamentary factions agreed to order between 12 and 24 of the MEADS units, under development for the last few years.

MEADS (Medium Extended Air Defense System) is a ground-launched missile system which can destroy aircraft and missiles within a range of up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles). The newspaper also reported that further development is planned on IRIS-T missiles.

Trans-Atlantic ties

The program is being hailed as a symbol of trans-Atlantic cooperation, with Germany set to contribute some 25 percent of the project's costs, the US shouldering over 50 percent and Italy financing 17 percent. 

In an interview with the daily Berliner Zeitung, Hans-Peter Bartels (SPD) revealed that Berlin has earmarked some €1.142 billion until 2012 for the MEADS system development, and said that contracts with EADS (Germany), Alenia Maraconi (Italy) and Lockheed Martin (US) are expected to be signed by the end of 2004.

New defense concerns

According to Bartels, the first MEADS systems will be ready by 2012. The program, which will provide both defense for German airspace and can also be used abroad, will gradually replace Germany's existing Patriot radar guided anti-aircraft missile system.

The new ground-to-air system will also be able to destroy chemical, biological and atomic warheads.

Although the MEADS program was first drawn up in 1987 against a background of Cold War hostilities, experts believe the new defense system is even more relevant in the face of the international terrorist threat.
 

21 October 2004
Germany To Spend More Than A Billion on Missile System
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BERLIN

The official, Hans-Peter Bartels of the governing Social Democrats, told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that the factions in parliament had agreed that 1.142 billion euros ($1.443 billion) could be spent on the project.

He said Germany would order between 12 and 24 of the MEADS (Medium Extended Air Defense System) units, which can be used to shoot down other missiles or aircraft and have a range of around 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

The ground-to-air system, which has already been under development for several years, is designed to replace the Patriot missile system in the United States and Germany and Italy's Nike Hercules system.

The project is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Corp, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS), MBDA-Italia and Lenkflugkorpersysteme (LFK) in Germany.

According to Lockheed Martin, it is currently financed 58 percent by the United States and 25 percent by Germany, with Italy funding 17 percent.

The system is not linked to the proposed U.S. anti-nuclear missile shield. Germany has recently tightened defense spending and is streamlining its military, and the costly MEADS project has been the subject of protracted parliamentary debate.