Latest news with #LongRangeMissiles
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Merz keeps Putin guessing over Germany's missile masterplan
Friedrich Merz's refusal to confirm or deny whether he is sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine will keep Vladimir Putin guessing – but it has other advantages for Germany's canny new Chancellor. Mr Merz welcomed Volodymyr Zelensky to Berlin on Wednesday for the first time since his victory in February's German elections. On the campaign trail, he had lambasted Olaf Scholz, the former chancellor, for refusing to send long-range Taurus missiles to Kyiv. Now in office, and alongside the Ukrainian president, he would not be drawn on the subject. On Wednesday, he instead announced that Germany would support Ukraine in developing its own long-range missile systems in a significant upgrade to Kyiv's Neptune weapons. Under the cover of that headline-grabbing moment, Mr Merz was executing some nimble political footwork. Mr Scholz ruled out sending Taurus missiles because he feared it risked the war in Ukraine escalating into one with the wider West. For Putin, this was confirmation that he didn't have to worry about the missiles, and of Europe's fracturing resolve. Mr Merz's missile omerta keeps Putin pondering at a time when Russia wants to take as much territory as possible before mooted peace talks, but it also shows he is determined not to make the same mistakes as his hapless predecessor. Germany, under Mr Scholz, was sending more weapons to Ukraine than any other European country. But his refusal to send Taurus entrenched the impression that Berlin was at best a reluctant partner of Kyiv. Mr Scholz's ham-fisted response was to order the publication of lists of what weapons Germany was sending to Ukraine. He then used the lists to criticise European allies like France for not doing more, undermining the united front against Putin. Mr Merz has already ditched the lists. There is nothing new about his embrace of 'strategic ambiguity'. Britain and France opted to keep the donations of their Storm Shadow and Scalp-EG cruise missiles a secret, with announcements only made after the projectiles had been used by Ukraine's air force in bombing raids. A similar strategy was used when decisions were taken to allow Kyiv to strike military targets inside Russia with the missiles. Thanks to such precedents from his allies in the 'coalition of the willing', Mr Merz will be able to keep his silence. He can also point to the fact that Europe's hawks are pleased. Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania's former foreign minister, said his announcements brought hope that Germany had taken the right direction on the 'crossroads of history' and 'that the stick he promised is going to be used'. Mr Zelensky did not say whether he had received Taurus. 'We need sufficient long-range capabilities. That is why we must be confident in the financing of our army and the resilience of Ukraine,' he said. 'Germany can support us in all of this.' Taurus is less important militarily than Ukraine's domestically produced drones and missiles, which cover the vast majority of Russian targets on the battlefield. It is more useful for striking heavily fortified and underground targets and is now more important symbolically than militarily. It also probably means more politically in Germany than it does in Ukraine. Mr Scholz was brought down by endless infighting in his dysfunctional coalition government, which collapsed in November. His refusal to send Taurus was meant to appease dove-ish elements in his SPD, which is now junior coalition partner to Mr Merz's Christian Democrats. Mr Merz comfortably won February's elections, but the scale of his victory was not so commanding as to mean he can afford to ignore his allies in government or their concerns. Yet more coalition infighting would play badly with German voters already suspicious that the Merz government is not as strong or united as it promised to be. The truth is that his CDU is also divided over Ukraine policy, as is Germany as a whole. The pro-Putin and far-Right Alternative for Germany came second in the elections, and is now the main opposition, while hard-Left anti-Nato appeasement parties also performed well. Moscow continues to play on German fears of a Russian invasion. Its propagandists are already spinning that Russia will strike Berlin if Taurus is used against Russia. But Mr Merz's strategic ambiguity allows him to support Ukraine in its battle, while dodging a damaging fight at home.
Sky News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Taurus: Would 'smart' missiles from Germany allow Ukraine to finally destroy Crimea bridge?
Long-range Taurus missiles – long prized by Ukraine – were not mentioned by Chancellor Friedrich Merz as he announced new support for Kyiv on Wednesday. But that does not mean they will not soon be aimed at Russian targets. After meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the German leader said the two countries would develop joint production of long-range missiles. He did not comment on the potential supply of Taurus, an advanced missile currently used by Germany that has a longer range than other missiles donated by Ukraine's allies. So what's going on? Is Germany sending Taurus missiles? It is unclear, and it might remain that way for some time. Olaf Scholz, who was chancellor of Germany until earlier this year, repeatedly vetoed the idea of sending Taurus missiles to Kyiv, apparently out of a wish to avoid escalation with Moscow. His successor Mr Merz previously said that decision should be reversed, and his comments on Ukrainian long-range strikes earlier this week sparked discussion on whether it was now time for Taurus. Earlier this month, he said Germany would stop publishing full details of military aid to Ukraine, in order to achieve "strategic ambiguity". So it is likely any decision on the missiles would not be immediately made public, and any supply of Taurus would not be known until they were seen in combat. Tech specs: What's the range of Taurus missiles? The Taurus KEPD-350 is a cruise missile that is launched in the air from fighter aircraft for precision strikes against hardened and high-value targets, like bunkers and bridges. "The missile is smart," Dr Marina Miron, an expert in war studies at King's College London, told Sky News. "It knows when it penetrates the earth and when it penetrates the bunker." This, she says, allows the 1,400kg missile to delay its formidable explosion until it has reached the buried or reinforced target. The Taurus has a range of more than 310 miles (500km), according to manufacturer MBDA, can breach dense air defences and navigate without permanent GPS, which is very useful in an era of GPS jamming. Why Ukraine wants Taurus missiles The Taurus has a longer range than the British-French Storm Shadow and the ATACMS missiles supplied by America, so it would potentially enable Ukraine to strike targets that Russia currently thinks are safe from missiles. There is also the issue of supply. "In the case of ATACMS and Storm Shadow we don't know how many – if any – are left," said Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the RUSI thinktank. Likely targets for Taurus would be anything Russia is likely to have protected with reinforced concrete – like command posts and missile storage facilities, Dr Sidharth Kaushal, an expert in sea power also from RUSI, said. However, the Taurus's 310-mile range may be constrained by the need to keep Ukrainian fighter jets out of reach of Russian air defences when firing. But Dr Kaushal added: "As an air-launched missile, the range it can likely target will be constrained by the threat the Russian air defence network poses to the launching aircraft." Crimea bridge killer? Inevitably, discussion of Taurus missiles in the context of Ukraine also resurrects discussion of the Kerch Bridge. Connecting mainland Russia with occupied Crimea, the 11-mile bridge is both a logistics route for Russian supplies and a prized accomplishment for President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine has already attempted to destroy it more than once, without fully succeeding. "I think at this stage it's more symbolic than militarily significant," says Dr Miron. She added: "It will take more than one Taurus missile to damage it in order to make it unusable." Why might Germany (and NATO) be hesitant to send Taurus missiles? There may be still some hesitancy around supplying Taurus to Ukraine. Along with fears, from the likes of former chancellor Scholz, of Germany being drawn into the war, there is also the fact that the debate over their use has been going on for a long time. "The Russians have been preparing for this for a year now," says Dr Miron. "They've had a year to prepare their electronic systems." She said that while Taurus missiles might help Ukraine on an operational (not strategic) level, "it's not going to end the war". What is more, the long-range rockets are currently used by the German army – and therefore NATO. Ukraine using them against Russia would give Moscow a chance to reverse engineer the missiles to see how they work, and develop countermeasures against them, Dr Miron added.
