SpaceWar.com reports: “Israel said the United States on Thursday approved the ‘landmark’ sale of the Arrow 3 hypersonic missile defence system to Germany, in the country’s biggest military deal worth $3.5 billion.

The Arrow 3 system — an interceptor designed to shoot down ballistic missiles above the Earth’s atmosphere — is jointly developed and produced by the Israel and the United States.

Israel’s defence ministry said in a statement the US State Department had notified it of the US government’s approval for Germany to procure the Arrow 3 system.

‘The Israeli Ministry of Defence, German Federal Ministry of Defence, and Israel Aerospace Industries will sign the landmark $3.5 billion defence agreement, marking Israel’s largest ever defence deal,’ it said.

The ministry said senior officials from the Israeli and German defence ministries would sign a letter of commitment to the deal with a preliminary payment of $600 million.

‘With its exceptional long-range interception capabilities, operating at high altitudes above the atmosphere, (the Arrow 3) stands as the top interceptor of its kind,’ it said…”