Germany to buy US Tomahawks in shift toward own long-range capability

Germany will purchase Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States and station them on German soil, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday, in a shift from planned U.S. deployments to Germany’s own long-range strike capability.

Merz told lawmakers he had sealed the deal with the U.S. government on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Ankara, adding that the meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday had exceeded his expectations.

“We are closing a critical strategic gap in our defence, while simultaneously working to develop our own European systems and station them in Europe,” he said.

According to German government sources, Washington committed to granting approval in August for Germany to procure Tomahawk missiles and corresponding ground-based Typhon launchers in a letter of intent signed on Tuesday.

The number of missiles and launchers Germany plans to acquire has not been disclosed as it is classified information.

The planned purchase appears to fit with U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for European allies to pay for their own security, for example by buying U.S. weapons.

The fate of the Tomahawk supply had been unclear after Trump announced in May that he would reduce U.S. military presence in Germany.

That was seen as a cancellation of a plan under the previous administration to deploy a U.S. battalion equipped with long-range Tomahawk missiles to Germany.

It was intended as an interim solution that would serve as a powerful deterrent against Russia while Europeans developed their own version of such weapons.

Germany makes its own cruise missiles, the Taurus, but their range of around 311 miles is three to five times shorter than the Tomahawks’.

德国总理弗里德里希·默茨周四表示，德国将从美国购买战斧巡航导弹并将其部署在德国境内，这标志着德国从计划中的美国部署转向建立自己的远程打击能力。

梅尔茨告诉议员们，他在安卡拉举行的北约峰会期间与美国政府达成了协议，并补充说，周二和周三的会晤超出了他的预期。

他说：“我们正在弥补国防方面的关键战略缺口，同时也在努力开发我们自己的欧洲系统并将其部署在欧洲。”

据德国政府消息人士透露，华盛顿方面承诺在8月份批准德国采购“战斧”导弹和相应的陆基“台风”发射器，该意向书已于周二签署。

德国计划采购的导弹和发射装置的数量尚未公开，因为这属于机密信息。

这项采购计划似乎符合美国总统唐纳德·特朗普推动欧洲盟友为自身安全买单的政策，例如通过购买美国武器。

特朗普在五月份宣布将减少美国在德国的军事存在后，战斧导弹的供应命运一直不明朗。

这被视为取消了前任政府向德国部署配备远程战斧导弹的美国营的计划。

这是作为一项过渡性解决方案，旨在对俄罗斯起到强有力的威慑作用，同时欧洲人也在研发自己的此类武器。

德国也生产自己的巡航导弹“金牛座”，但其射程约为 311 英里，比“战斧”导弹短三到五倍。