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 announced Thursday, shifting from planned U.S. deployments to Germany's own long-range strike capability. Merz told lawmakers he sealed the deal with the U.S. government on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Ankara, saying it "closes a critical strategic gap" in German defense while the country works to develop its own European systems. According to German government sources, Washington committed to granting approval in August for Germany to procure Tomahawk missiles and corresponding ground-based Typhon launchers. The planned purchase appears to align with U.S. President Donald Trump's push for European allies to pay for their own security by buying American weapons. The fate of the Tomahawk supply had been unclear after Trump announced in May he would reduce U.S. military presence in Germany, which was seen as canceling a previous plan to deploy a U.S. battalion equipped with long-range Tomahawks to Germany. Germany makes its own cruise missiles, the Taurus, but their range of around 311 miles is three to five times shorter than the Tomahawks'. The number of missiles and launchers Germany plans to acquire has not been disclosed as it is classified information.