Germany has put Taurus missiles on standby to help Ukraine
A full inventory of the missiles will need to be carried out and the faulty ones will need to be sent for overhaul
The German authorities have decided to modernise and put back into service all the long-range Taurus missiles in service with the Bundeswehr. The Ministry of Defence informed the Bundestag's specialised committee of these plans in a secret part of a special meeting on Tuesday evening, according to sources of Die Welt.
The Bundeswehr has about 600 Taurus units in its arsenal, the exact number is classified. However, only half of them are in working order after a technical upgrade in 2018. The certification of the rest has expired. Now it will be necessary to conduct a full inventory of the missiles and send the faulty ones for overhaul.
The decision to put all Taurus on alert opens up new powers for the German government. In particular, it means that in the future it can transfer cruise missiles to Ukraine without putting national defence at risk.
A so-called circular exchange with allies is also likely – this option has not been ruled out by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron. The scheme is that London will increase the supply of Storm Shadow to Ukraine in exchange for Taurus for the United Kingdom. This option was supported by German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock.
The discussion about the transfer of Taurus missiles with a range of 500 km, capable of reaching Moscow, has been going on for a long time. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly opposed such a step, fearing that the country would be directly involved in a war with Russia.
New problems with coordination arose after leaked talks between German officers who discussed the possibility of transferring 100 Taurus missiles to Ukraine and using them to strike Russian ammunition depots and the Crimean bridge. The main concern of the participants was how to avoid direct involvement of the German military in this process.
On 14 March, the Bundestag will vote again on the issue of providing Taurus to Ukraine. Earlier, the MPs adopted a draft resolution on the transfer of long-range weapons systems to Kyiv without directly mentioning these missiles.
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