Berlin: German lawmakers agreed on Wednesday to pay a portion of the nearly $4 billion ($4.3 billion) price tag for Israel's sophisticated Arrow 3 air defence system.

An initial payment of 560 million euros was approved by the budget committee in the lower house of parliament, a committee source told AFP.
Designed to shoot down missiles above the Earth's atmosphere, the long-range Arrow 3 system is effective enough to provide cover for surrounding European Union nations.

According to the source, the committee also gave its approval for the purchase of six Iris-T SLM air defence systems made in Germany for about 950 million euros.
According to financial ministry documents obtained by AFP, the total cost of the Arrow 3 system could reach 3.99 billion euros.

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The funding will come from a historic 100 billion euro fund that Chancellor Olaf Scholz unveiled to strengthen the nation's defences after Russia invaded Ukraine.

If everything goes according to plan, a contract will be signed by the end of 2023, and Berlin anticipates receiving the Arrow 3 system in the fourth quarter of 2025.

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The 560 million euros will be used to establish production and manufacturing in Israel.

According to liberal FDP committee member Karsten Klein, the release of the funds would ensure that Germany is "equipped with modern air defence systems."

He claimed that the Iris-T system had "already demonstrated its dependability in Ukraine."

The Arrow 3 system can intercept ballistic missiles launched from up to 2,400 kilometres (1,490 miles) away, claims Israeli manufacturer IAI. Israel has used the system to defend itself against attacks from Iran and Syria since its initial deployment in an Israeli air force base in 2017.

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Following Russia's ceaseless missile attacks on Ukraine, the German government has spearheaded efforts to strengthen NATO's air defences in Europe and urged allies to purchase deterrence systems collectively. The so-called European Sky Shield initiative currently has more than a dozen European nations as members.