The United States has reaffirmed its plans to station intermediate-range missiles, including the Tomahawk cruise missile, in Germany by 2026, according to the German General Inspector, Carsten Breuer. This decision was confirmed during recent talks in the US, where Breuer met with General Dan Caine, the new US military chief of staff, for the first time.
Germany and the US agreed on the deployment of conventional intermediate-range missiles, including the Tomahawk system, at the NATO summit in Washington in July 2024. The Tomahawks, with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers, are seen as a “contribution to European deterrence” according to the agreement. Russia has long stationed a large number of intermediate- and long-range missiles, for example, in the Kaliningrad Enclave, which can target almost any location in Europe from there.
Following the change of government in Washington, there were significant doubts in Berlin about whether President Trump would uphold the commitment made by his predecessor, Joe Biden. The deployment of a US unit with Tomahawk systems is intended to bridge the time until the German military itself has access to long-range weapons, which are being developed in conjunction with the UK. General Breuer hinted that the German military may need to acquire corresponding systems in the short term. “Perhaps we will need a market-available variant before then to bridge the gap” he said, adding that this would be the subject of ongoing deliberation.