Germany stalling long-range cruise missile delivery to Ukraine
Berlin blocks delivery of Taurus to avoid placing German technicians on the ground.
Germany is holding off sending Taurus long-range precision missiles to Ukraine because of concerns they would require German technicians to operate on the ground, which some officials fear could drag Berlin closer to a direct confrontation with Russia.
The German weapon would help refill Ukraine’s dwindling stock of long-range missiles as it seeks to bolster its slow counteroffensive with surgical strikes on rail links, ammunition stores and command centres deep into Russian-held territory.
The Taurus is Germany’s version of the Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles the UK and France have already sent to Ukraine. The missile was designed to destroy reinforced structures and infrastructure such as the Kerch Bridge, the only link connecting Ukraine’s occupied Crimea peninsula with Russia.
German officials said Germany’s three-party coalition government had approved delivery of the Taurus in principle but that Chancellor Olaf Scholz had stalled the move because of concerns that German personnel would have to travel to Ukraine to help service and operate the complex weapon.
Mr Scholz believes moving military personnel to a war zone would require a vote of parliament, the officials said. He is also concerned that such a move could drag Germany deeper into the conflict, possibly causing a direct confrontation with Russia.
“The chancellor must end his blockade of the Taurus delivery,” said Anton Hofreiter, a senior Green Party lawmaker. “Hesitation and technical excuses only contribute to strengthening (Russian President) Vladimir Putin’s belief that he can still win, and this only prolongs the war.” A spokesman for Mr Scholz said that there was no plan for an imminent delivery of the Taurus rockets.
The air-launched missile is capable of penetrating fortified underground bunkers, destroying bridges and sinking large warships as far as 500km with great precision, according to the German military.
The Taurus, short for Target Adaptive Unitary and Dispenser Robotic Ubiquity System, was introduced in 2005 with the explicit purpose of destroying Russian military and other targets such as command bunkers, airports, naval ports, ships and bridges along the Baltic coast, including the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
Ukraine first requested the system in May and senior figures from Mr Scholz’s Social Democrat Party and its coalition partners, the Greens and the Free Democrats, said they were in favour of dispatching the Taurus to Ukraine.
A similar debate preceded Germany’s decision to send German-made tanks to Ukraine. Mr Scholz only agreed to do so after persuading President Joe Biden to send US tanks. According to what Mr Scholz dubbed the “strategic lockstep” principle, Germany has since insisted on only delivering new types of weapons if the U.S. also does so.
Some German officials say that the Taurus could yet be approved when the US sends comparable weapons to Ukraine. Mr Biden last week pledged to give Ukraine ATACMS long-range artillery missiles, but no clear date has yet been set.
The chancellery’s reservations about sending technicians to help operate the missile is only the latest in a long list of concerns surrounding a potential Taurus delivery.
Initially, chancellery officials were worried about the missiles being used to strike Russian territory. They were also concerned they could target the Kerch Bridge, causing the conflict to escalate further.
In a bid to reassure Berlin, senior British officials said that they had briefed their German counterparts in great detail about how they work with Ukraine in deploying their own Storm Shadow missiles, including revealing highly confidential operational procedures.
Ukraine had never hit any targets that the British wouldn’t approve, these officials told their German counterparts, assuring them that they could rely on Kyiv to honor any targeting agreement.
German officials said that if the Taurus is approved, its range would be shortened so as to minimise the risk of it being used to hit Russia. It is unclear whether Berlin will allow Kyiv to strike targets in occupied Crimea.
Even if the Taurus is approved soon, it might take much longer for Ukraine to deploy the weapon. That is because Ukraine’s fleet of Soviet-era warplanes will have to be retrofitted to be able to carry the missile.
Germany has a stockpile of around 600 such missiles that were jointly developed by MBDA Deutschland and Sweden’s Saab Bofors Dynamics. It isn’t clear how many would be sent to Ukraine.
Like its British and French counterparts, the Taurus flies about 50m above the ground, allowing it to avoid some air-defence systems. Once launched, it follows a programmed path using infrared cameras, making it impervious to the electronic scrambling of GPS signals.
The Wall Street Journal
Israel-Hamas deal unlikely before end of Biden’s term: US officials
Senior White House officials have privately acknowledged they don’t expect a ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank before the end of Joe Biden’s presidential term.
Israel scored a stunning blow, but its path to victory is less clear
Whether the one-two punch against Hezbollah results in a decisive victory remains in question. If anything, it might have brought the two sides closer to a full-scale conflict, as Israel braces for a response.