Germany will Gain Access to the MEADS Technology

As it is reported by Inside Defense, US Under Secretary of Defense, Frank Kendall ensured the representatives of Italy and Germany that the US will facilitate a technology transfer of the solutions developed within the MEADS programme for these countries. That will probably make it significantly easier to use the elements of the Medium Extended Range Air Defense System within the scope of modernisation of the German air defence systems.

Bundeswehr is going to create a tactical system of air and anti-missile defence within the scope of the TLVS programme. Acquisition of new missile systems, as well as modernisation of the Patriot systems (possibly based on MEADS components) is being considered. Bundestag Defence Committee has adopted a desideratum earlier, according to which the Ministry of Defence is to undertake all the relevant decisions this year, in order to secure an option of using the technologies developed within the  Medium Extended Range Air Defense System programme.

According to the report by Inside Defense, the spokesperson of the German MoD stated that decision regarding the TLVS programme is to be taken in mid-2015, however, it is possible that mode of modernisation of the Bundeswehr’s air-defence system will be selected in early 2015.

US Armed Forces have started analytical procedures, which aim at examining the options of modernisation and migration of the Patriot system capabilities, in order to embed them within the new, fully integrated system of the air-defence and anti-missile defence, which is currently under development. Back in 2011 plans to introduce the MEADS system, which was to partially replace and complement the Patriot missiles, have been rejected. Inside Defense also states that a comparative cost analysis regarding the Patriot and MEADS systems is being carried out. Earlier a committee which deals with the state spending of the US Senate had proposed to limit the funds related to modernisation of the Patriot missiles.