Finland is progressing with its acquisition of a high-altitude air defence system, jointly developed by Israeli company Rafael and US firm Raytheon.
The 316 million euro purchase has moved into the negotiation phase, with the procurement agreement expected to be signed in the coming months. The sale to Finland received approval from the US government in August and is now awaiting Israel to give it the final green light.
Despite recent attention focused on Israel in response to its conflict with Hamas, Finland's Ministry of Defence said it has not impacted the arms deal.
"So far there is no indication that it [the Israel-Hamas conflict] has impacted the deal. Deliveries will take place in the late 2020s, so the situation will certainly change by then," said the Ministry of Defence's expert Frans Peltonen.
Finland has diversified sources for its arms acquisitions, with Israel being one of its suppliers. The high-altitude missile defence system, called David's Sling, is designed to intercept targets at a minimum altitude of 15 kilometres.
The Finnish Defense Forces already have the Norwegian NASAMS 2 system with a lower altitude range. In contrast, an older high-altitude missile defence system acquired from Russia in the late 1990s has been retired due to issues such as ageing missile propellants.
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