Germany to buy US Tomahawk cruise missiles after NATO summit deal, closing a strategic gap in European defence
Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced the purchase on 9 July, a day after the NATO summit in Ankara, as Washington pushes Europeans to pay for their own security.
The deal on the sidelines
Germany has secured a deal to purchase American Tomahawk cruise missiles and deploy them on its own soil, Chancellor Friedrich Merz told the Bundestag on Thursday. The agreement was reached during the NATO summit in Ankara earlier this week, catching many by surprise after the German delegation had said no concrete results were expected. A letter of intent signed by the two defence ministers commits the US to approve the acquisition in August, though the number of missiles and Typhoon ground launchers remains classified.
We are closing a critical strategic gap in our defence, while at the same time working to develop our own European systems and deploy them in Europe.
A capability Europe lacks
The Tomahawk is a subsonic, long-range cruise missile with a range of up to 1,600 kilometres and high precision, according to manufacturer Raytheon. It can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, though the versions in current use are conventional. European NATO members currently have no comparable weapon, and the German-made Taurus missile has a range of only about 500 kilometres. Experts say a European alternative will not be ready before the mid-2030s, making the Tomahawk an interim deterrent against Russia.
The delivery of Tomahawk systems enormously increases the deterrent potential of Germany and thus of NATO vis-à-vis Russia. A capability gap that existed until now is being closed.
Trump’s push and Biden’s scrapped plan
The purchase replaces a 2024 plan by then-President Joe Biden and former Chancellor Olaf Scholz to station a US battalion with Tomahawks in Germany from 2026. President Donald Trump suspended that plan in May and announced the withdrawal of 5,000 American troops from the country. The new arrangement fits Trump’s insistence that Europeans pay for their own defence: instead of the US bearing the cost of deployment, Germany will buy the missiles, at a reported price of up to 2.1 million euros each.
The United States has essential capabilities that we cannot do without in Europe. Continuing to source from the US is the only way to develop the capabilities we have promised NATO.
A signal to Moscow and a transatlantic reset
The deal is also seen as a reconciliation after months of tension over defence spending. Germany has more than doubled its military budget in recent years and now aims to reach NATO’s new 3.5 percent of GDP target before 2030, earlier than the 2035 deadline. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius called the agreement “a strong sign of transatlantic friendship.” Analysts note that the missiles send a clear message to Moscow, whose Iskander missiles are stationed within minutes of Berlin and Warsaw.
- Biden and Scholz agree to station a US battalion with Tomahawk missiles in Germany from 2026.
- Trump suspends the deployment plan and announces the withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany.
- NATO summit opens in Ankara; German delegation says no concrete results expected from US talks.
- Defence ministers Pistorius and his US counterpart sign a letter of intent for the Tomahawk sale on the summit sidelines.
- Chancellor Merz announces the purchase in a government declaration to the Bundestag.
- Expected US approval for the acquisition of Tomahawk missiles and Typhoon ground launchers.
European projects continue
Merz stressed that Berlin will press ahead with joint European weapons programmes, including a dozen allies investing together in long-range strike capabilities. The UK had announced on Wednesday that a group of European NATO members, including Germany, would jointly develop such systems. For now, however, the Tomahawk fills a gap that Ukraine’s improvised deep-strike drones have shown to be critical in modern warfare.
