Luftwaffe to base Arrow Weapon System in southern Germany

The Bundeswehr declared the AWS-G FOC in Schönewalde/Holzdorf, east Germany, on 3 December 2025. (IMOD)

The Luftwaffe announced on its website on 30 June 2026 that the Bundeswehr had found a site in the greater Kaufbeuren area of southern Germany for the Arrow Weapon System-Germany (AWS-G). This will be the second site for AWS-G after the eastern site in Schönewalde/Holzdorf, where the Bundeswehr declared the initial operational capability of the system on 3 December 2025.

AWS-G is planned to be deployed at several locations in northern, eastern, and southern Germany. The Luftwaffe said the sensor site in the greater Kaufbeuren area would cover the entire territory of Germany, as well as resilience against failures, malfunctions, and sabotage.

To establish the AWS-G site in southern Germany, the state of Bavaria is transferring land managed by the Bavarian State Forests enterprise to the German federal government for use, allowing all the necessary studies and preparations for the construction and operation of the facility to proceed, the Luftwaffe said.

According to the Luftwaffe, the anti-ballistic missile system is capable of intercepting targets outside the Earth's atmosphere at a height over 100 km and would provide protection for Germany and its allies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. As a logistic hub in Europe, Germany would in the event of a conflict be threatened primarily by long-range ballistic missiles such as Russia's Oreshnik, against which before the AWS-G procurement the country was defenceless, according to the Luftwaffe.

AWS-G is expanding Germany's air defence architecture above the interception level of the Patriot air defence system to include territorial air defence.