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Merz Flags Taurus Missiles Redundant Amid Ukraine’s Weapons Breakthrough
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Chancellor Friedrich Merz says supplying Taurus missiles no longer makes sense because Ukraine’s own long-range technology now matches or exceeds the capabilities of a limited German delivery, according to ntv on March 25.
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Speaking in the Bundestag, the German leader highlighted that Ukraine has made significant progress in developing its own arms since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Merz stated that these domestic systems now provide capabilities that exceed what a limited supply of German missiles could offer.
"Today Ukraine has its own long-range systems that are significantly more effective than the relatively small number of Taurus cruise missiles we could provide," Merz said during his address.
The Chancellor also addressed his previous calls for the missile transfer made during his election campaign.
He explained that his earlier stance was based on the assumption that the Bundeswehr possessed a sufficient stockpile of Taurus missiles available for transfer to the Ukrainian military.
While the transfer of older stocks is off the table, Germany is moving forward with modernizing its own arsenal. Berlin recently signed a contract exceeding $2.1 billion to establish a production line for the new TAURUS NEO cruise missiles.
Reports indicate that Germany intends to purchase approximately 600 of these advanced missiles to bolster its defense capabilities for a total cost of around $2.2 billion.
Тhe debate surrounding the delivery of TAURUS cruise missiles to Ukraine had become a central issue ahead of Germany’s snap elections.
While then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz had consistently ruled out providing the weapons, Friedrich Merz, as the opposition leader, had criticized the government’s hesitation.
Military experts at the time argued that the missile’s 500 km range and its advanced "void sensing " fuze system—which was far more sophisticated than the British Storm Shadow—could have fundamentally changed the course of deep-battle operations.
Despite these calls, the missiles remained in German warehouses while the Bundeswehr moved forward with plans to modernize the stockpile for long-term domestic use.
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