00:00 The two Baltic nations of Estonia and Latvia have signed an agreement with Germany to purchase
00:14 a medium-range air defence missile system that opens the way for the two nations to
00:19 join a common air defence system proposed by Germany last year.
00:24 Estonia and Latvia had previously signed letters of intent to join the SkyShield initiative,
00:29 a common air defence system proposed by Germany in 2022 in the wake of the Russian war against
00:35 Ukraine.
00:36 The project currently includes 16 NATO member states, NATO invitees Sweden, as well as the
00:41 neutral states Austria and Switzerland.
00:44 The initiative aims to create a European air and missile defence system through the common
00:49 acquisition of air defence equipment and missiles by European nations to strengthen NATO's integrated
00:55 air and missile defence.
00:56 The new assets, fully interoperable and seamlessly integrated within the NATO air and missile
01:01 defence system, would significantly enhance the grouping's ability to defend the alliance
01:06 from all air and missile threats.
01:09 The initiative encourages the member countries to jointly develop an air and missile defence
01:13 system using interoperable, off-the-shelf solutions.
01:17 If faced with air and missile threats in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the
01:22 initiative aims to leverage the already existing NATO cooperation framework and defend member
01:27 states against missile threats.
01:29 The SkyShield system would involve joint procurement for short-, medium- and long-range systems
01:34 including the German-made IRIS-T, the American Patriot and the US-Israeli Arrow 3 missiles.
01:41 IRIS-T is a supreme, short-range, incredibly manoeuvrable, all-aspect air-to-air missile.
01:47 Equipped with an innovative infrared seeker, thrust vector control and a dogfight-optimised
01:53 motor, one can engage any target from point-blank up to maximum range.
01:58 The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is
02:03 a theatre-wide surface-to-air missile defence system and is considered one of the most advanced
02:09 air defence systems in the US arsenal.
02:11 While the Arrow class is designed to defend against medium- and intermediate-range ballistic
02:16 missiles outside the atmosphere.
02:24 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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