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The United States has approved the sale of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday, despite previous doubts over a planned deployment.
“On the sidelines of the NATO meeting in Ankara, we agreed with the American government that American Tomahawk missiles will be purchased by us and stationed in Germany,” Merz told MPs in a statement to parliament.
The move will “close an important strategic gap in our defences,” he said.
“At the same time we will work on developing our own European systems and stationing them in Europe.”
Merz did not say when he expected the Tomahawks to be delivered.
The missiles are mainly launched from submarines and warships and can travel more than 1,600 kilometres.
A German government source said the defence ministers for both countries signed a letter of intent for the Tomahawk missile deal on Tuesday after previous negotiations between Merz and US President Donald Trump and senior security officials from both countries.
In the letter, the United States committed to granting formal approval for the sale of Tomahawk missiles and ground-based Typhoon launchers by August, although the number of missiles acquired would remain classified.
Berlin views the deployment of long-range cruise missiles, such as the US-made Tomahawk, as a key part of its deterrence strategy against Russia.
So far, there are no European-made alternatives with similar range and strike capabilities as the Tomahawk, leaving Berlin and other European NATO powers dependent on Washington for the weapons.
Moscow has deployed Iskander cruise missiles to the Kaliningrad exclave, which could strike targets in European NATO countries.
On Wednesday, the United Kingdom announced that a dozen European NATO allies, including Germany, would jointly spend about $50 billion (€43 billion) over the next decade to develop new long-range precision strike weapons.
The German government source said that Berlin plans to contribute roughly half of the cost of the project.
In May, Merz suggested that a planned deployment of Tomahawk missiles to Germany, announced by former US President Joe Biden, was being called off.
At the time, Merz cited depleted arsenals because of the wars in Iran and Ukraine as the reason.
Additional sources • AFP