Germany has announced plans to purchase Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States and deploy them on German soil, aiming to bolster its long-range strike capabilities, Chancellor Friedrich Merz revealed on Thursday.
This decision represents a significant change from the previous arrangement, where the US was expected to station long-range missiles in Germany. Now, Berlin is moving towards developing its own missile capability.
Addressing parliament, Merz stated that he finalized the agreement with the US government during the NATO summit in Ankara, describing the discussions earlier this week as surpassing his expectations. He emphasized that Germany is closing a critical strategic gap in its defense while simultaneously working on developing European missile systems to be stationed within Europe.
German government officials confirmed that Washington signed a letter of intent on Tuesday, committing to approve Germany’s acquisition of Tomahawk cruise missiles and Typhon ground-based launchers by August. However, the exact quantity of missiles and launchers Germany plans to procure remains undisclosed due to security concerns.
This move aligns with former US President Donald Trump’s call for European allies to take greater responsibility for their own defense by purchasing American-made military equipment. The future of Tomahawk missile deployment in Germany had been uncertain after Trump announced in May a reduction of the US military presence in the country.
That announcement effectively ended an earlier plan by the previous US administration to deploy a battalion equipped with long-range Tomahawk missiles in Germany as a temporary deterrent against Russia while European nations developed comparable weapons.
Currently, Germany operates the domestically produced Taurus cruise missile, which has a range of approximately 500 kilometers—significantly less than the Tomahawk missile’s range, highlighting the strategic advantage of the new acquisition.
