US approves €316 million sale of Israel's David's Sling missiles to Finland

The Defense Ministry on Thursday night announced that the US had approved its sale of the David's Sling medium-range missile defense system to Finland for €316 million.

Calling the deal "historic," the ministry said that it, and the quasi-private sector producer Rafael, would soon hold a signing ceremony.

A statement from the ministry said that the US State Department had just recently notified Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Director-General Eyal Zamir, and Director of the (MAFAT) DDR&D Division Danny Gold, of the approval.

Negotiations for the approval were led by the director of DDR&D’s Israel Missile Defense Organization, Moshe Patel.

The US approval was needed as its missile defense organization and the American Raytheon defense firm were joint partners in developing David's Sling.

All of those parties will work on providing Finland with the missile defense system, while engaging Finland's local defense community in aspects of customizing the system.

Boosting Israel's defense exports worldwide

Gallant said the deal was a "very substantial step toward actualizing the historic deal between Israel and Finland."

He added that Israel's ingenious creative minds had led to breakthroughs in sales of its defense products throughout the globe.

Israel is also far along the road to a sale of the Arrow 3 system to Germany.

Many European countries have looked to Israel for upgrading their defense in the shadow of new security threats posed by Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Further, David's Sling had very public and positive performances during the recent Gaza War in May.

Zamir stated, "[The Defense Ministry] will closely cooperate with the US government throughout the entire process. We are hopeful that Finland's expression of confidence in the Israeli missile defense system, along with the American approval of the sale, will encourage additional European countries to enhance cooperation with Israel's defense establishment and defense industries."

In addition, Gold added that David's Sling "has been operational since 2017 and plays a significant role in the State of Israel's multi-tiered air and missile defense array. We take pride in Finland's choice of the Israeli-American system and are pleased by the United States' approval to move forward."

Chairman of RAFAEL, Dr. Yuval Steinitz responded, "The advanced "David's Sling" system has drawn great interest in the world due to its unique, advanced capabilities and we are very proud of its development. After already becoming operational in Israel, the system will significantly enhance Finland's air defense capabilities and we anticipate more agreements in the future."