• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Ukraine - Taurus

The overwhelming majority of parliamentarians (451) from Germany's ruling coalition voted in the European Parliament to supply Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev, while 46 were against and 49 abstained, according to Bild 15 March 2024. The resolution stated, among other things, that Ukraine really needs high-tech air defense systems and long-range cruise missiles, “such as Taurus, Storm Shadow and Scalp.” It also mentioned modern combat aircraft, various types of artillery and ammunition, and drones.

Sputnik report4ed 11 March 2024 that the German government was hesitating over the delivery of Taurus missiles to Ukraine because it would require putting boots on the ground in the country, says Mikael Valtersson, a former Swedish Armed Forces officer and the chief of staff of the Sweden Democrats Party. “Both the UK and France have their own personnel on the ground” assisting in the operation of the Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG cruise missiles, “and that’s the reason why Germany doesn’t want to send Taurus to Ukraine – because they don’t want to send military personnel to Ukraine,” Valtersson told Sputnik.

Commenting on the apparent split inside the German government about whether or not to send the missiles eastward amid a proposal by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to send Taurus to the UK in exchange for Storm Shadows going to Kiev, Valtersson noted that no matter what decision is ultimately made, it won’t change the balance of power on the battlefield. The missiles might “help Ukraine for a short while to avoid losing more ground, but it won’t change the war in the long run,” the observer stressed.

“Ukraine has very great problems. The only aircraft that can use the Storm Shadows is the Su-24 [a Soviet-era tactical bomber, ed.]. Those planes have been adopted with Western technology so they can carry Storm Shadows. But we don’t know how many Su-24s Ukraine has left; it’s probably maybe ten. They are a very limited resource,” Valtersson said.

Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock is open to a deal in which London supplies Ukraine with additional Storm Shadow missiles in exchange for Germany backfilling British long-range missile stocks, Kyivindependent reported 11 March 2024.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz had already decided at the beginning of October 2023 not to deliver any “Taurus” cruise missiles to Ukraine. Chancellor Scholz explained his rejection of “Taurus” deliveries for Ukraine. There is sharp opposition to his view of things from the other parties. “German soldiers must not be linked at any point or place to the goals that this system achieves,” Scholz said 26 February 2024 at the German Press Agency’s editor-in-chief conference. Therefore, says Scholz, this is not the next option on the agenda. “This clarity is also necessary,” continued Scholz. Criticism of this is obviously incomprehensible to him: "I'm surprised that some people aren't moved at all, that they don't even think about whether what we're doing could, in a sense, lead to participation in the war."

For almost every major weapons system that the Federal Republic later delivered to Ukraine, there were initially long waiting times for a decision from the Chancellor. For the “Taurus” – in contrast to the “Leopard” tank system, for example – it was negative. “This is a very far-reaching weapon,” explained the Chancellor. “And what the British and French are doing in terms of target control and accompanying target control cannot be done in Germany. Everyone who has dealt with this system knows that.”

He is surprised that this question is being asked again - and “very irritated” by the “missing balance” between what is really necessary now and the debate about it this one system. Scholz sees Germany's task elsewhere: "What Ukraine is missing is ammunition for all possible distances, but not in a decisive way this thing from Germany," he said when asked about the subject of "Taurus". The “talk” that there is hesitation is a problem in Germany, Scholz continued. “A lot of people watch TV in the evenings and hope that the Chancellor will keep his nerve.”

He justifies this with German history: “What other countries do, which have different traditions and different constitutional institutions, is something that we cannot do in the same way,” said Scholz. “It is very clear that there will be no German soldiers on Ukrainian land.” He will ensure “that there is no involvement of our country and our country’s military structures in this war.”

The chairwoman of the defense committee, FDP member of the Bundestag Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, said it was “a long-refuted argument” that German soldiers were needed on Ukrainian territory for the Taurus. “The Chancellor’s claim is wrong.” The foreign policy expert for the CDU parliamentary group, Norbert Röttgen, agreed with her. “The claim that the delivery of Taurus would make Germany a warring party is simply legally wrong and politically infamous,” he tweeted. Green Party defense expert Agnieszka Brugger wrote: “No one who calls for the 'Taurus' wants Germany to become a war party. I reject this accusation.” This connection is also not factually correct.

Spiegel reported 01 March 2024 "The industry representatives came to the Chancellery with, as they assumed, good news. They assured that no German soldiers were needed for the operation, neither on Ukrainian soil nor anywhere else. And geofencing, i.e. the technical limitation of the range, is complicated but feasible. But with every visit to government headquarters, the company representatives got the impression that Scholz had long since formed his opinion. That no argument could change the Chancellor's mind. Once, when the experts were explaining technical options for limiting the Taurus, Scholz's advisors suddenly asked whether the Ukrainians could reverse the limitation. The manufacturer had to agree: There is no guarantee that the Taurus cannot be reprogrammed to the standard settings."

Mayor Vitaliy Klychko said "Mr. Chancellor, you have once again suggested that Taurus missiles could also be used by Ukraine to attack Moscow. I say to you: Please trust us, please trust the Ukrainian people! We have shown for two years that we only deploy weapons systems as agreed with our partners. But look at the situation on the front lines these days: we urgently need Taurus to disrupt the logistical supply of the russians with their almost endless supply of ammunition and weapons! "

Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged a quick investigation into Russian leaks of secret Ukrainian war talks. Bundeswehr has confirmed the talks were real, but couldn't rule out that the recording had been edited Germany's Defense Ministry has confirmed the authenticity of a recording of a confidential discussion between high-ranking Bundeswehr officers regarding the war in Ukraine that was leaked by Russian state media. "According to our assessment, a conversation in the air force division was intercepted. We are currently unable to say for certain whether changes were made to the recorded or transcribed version that is circulating on social media," said a spokeswoman for the ministry.

On 01 Mrch 2024, the head of Russian state broadcaster RT, Margarita Simonyan, published what she said was an audio recording between German officers, including the chief of the Air Force, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz. The recording was apparently made from a video conference between four Air Force officers discussing Russia's war in Ukraine.

As aired by Simonyan on Telegram, the audio includes a discussion about whether Taurus cruise missiles would be capable of destroying a bridge, seemingly a reference to the new bridge linking Russia-occupied Crimea to the Russian mainland over the Kerch Strait. On the audio leak, they spoke about ways German officers could supply Ukrainians with targeting information without appearing to be directly involved in the conflict with Russia. The clip also contains reference to the British having "a few people on the ground" in connection with the deployment of their Storm Shadow cruise missiles delivered to Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described it as "a very serious matter." Scholz said during a visit to Rome. "It will now be investigated very carefully, very intensively, and very quickly". German newsmagazine Der Spiegel reported that the virtual meeting did not take place via a secure line, but via the Webex platform. "If this story turns out to be true, it would be a highly problematic incident," Konstantin von Notz, the chairman of the Bundestag's parliamentary oversight committee, told broadcast network Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.

The Green party politician said it should be determined "whether this is a one-off incident or a structural safety problem." Roderich Kiesewetter, of the center-right Christian Democratic Union and deputy chairman of the Bundestag's parliamentary oversight committee, said it seemed Russia had leaked the conversation to put pressure Germany not to supply Taurus missiles to Ukraine. "A number of other conversations will certainly have been intercepted and may be leaked at a later date for Russia's benefit," he told broadcaster ZDF. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova demanded that Germany "promptly" provide an explanation and claimed the audio was evidence of a "hybrid war" the West was waging on Russia.

"This is a bold attempt, a transparent attempt by the Russians to try to sow discord and to try to show division and try to make it look like the West isn't unified," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

Taurus cruise missiles are precision-guided munitions that could be used to attack Russian targets. The missiles could be used to strike Russian territory and limit Moscow's supply to its army. The Taurus missiles developed by Germany and Sweden have a range of over 500 kilometres and further than the 300-km range British-French Storm Shadow/Scalp missiles already delivered to Kiev. They could attack targets not only in Crimea but deeper into Russian territory. According to one analysis, 150 Taurus missiles could extend Ukraine's campaign against Russian targets for two months. Germany could potentially supply Ukraine with Taurus missiles. Some in Germany say that supplying Ukraine with these missiles would be in accordance with international law.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said 24 January 2024 that he does not give up hope that he will be able to change the opinion of the German federal government regarding the supply of Taurus long-range cruise missile systems to Ukraine. He explained that the Taurus are needed to destroy the Russian military infrastructure behind the front line on the territory of Ukraine. Kuleba said this in an interview with the German newspaper Bild.

According to Kuleba, Ukraine is still in discussions with the federal government regarding the Taurus systems. He emphasized that "everything depends on the political circumstances, the real needs and demands of the front." "We don't need Taurus to attack Moscow. We do not need the long-range missiles provided by our Western partners to attack Moscow or any other part of Russian territory. We need Taurus to destroy the Russian military infrastructure behind the front line on the territory of Ukraine," Kuleba explained.

Germany may transfer Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine if Washington announces the supply of ATACMS tactical missiles to Kyiv. The Chairman of the Bundestag Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, on 06 October 2023 told The New York Times “He [German Chancellor Olaf Scholz] is under extreme pressure and may want to end discussions on this topic. But if the Americans give the green light to the delivery of their ATACMS, maybe [Scholz will also approve the delivery],” she said. Strack-Zimmerman believes that Berlin will not have to send troops to Ukraine to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces operate the Taurus, since Ukrainian military personnel were trained in the use of other Western weapons systems in NATO countries.

Bild reported that the chancellor was concerned that for Ukraine to use the Taurus missiles, Berlin would have to deliver geo-data of Russian targets and thereby take a more active role in the war. Scholz was also reportedly worried that Ukraine might use the missiles to hit the Kerch bridge connecting occupied Crimea with Russia.

Shankar Narayan wrote: "... this theory may appear far-fetched, as Ukraine should already possess the necessary geo-data. Given their extended engagement in warfare and the regular explosion of the half a billion dollar worth, well defended Russia’s most powerful air-defense systems, the S-400 Triumph, it is reasonable to assume they have the required data.... it’s entirely feasible that Ukraine could use Taurus missiles to effectively sink the Kerch bridge. This, I believe, is the real reason why the Chancellor keeps dragging his foot in delivering the Taurus missiles to Ukraine.... Storm Shadow is equipped with a blast-fragmentation warhead designed to destroy targets by explosive force. Taurus is designed with a warhead that is optimized for penetrating hardened structures..."

At the end of May 2023, Kyiv requested from Berlin Taurus cruise missiles with a range of up to 500 km. The corresponding appeal was made against the background of Britain and France's decision to supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow and SCALP long-range missiles. Sources of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the transfer of the Taurus with Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a visit to Berlin on May 14. According to them, Kyiv "would like to get them urgently." Within the parties that make up the ruling coalition in Germany, there are different points of view on the supply of cruise missiles to Ukraine.

A decade earlier, about 600 Taurus missiles were purchased for the Bundeswehr, of which about 150 are ready for operation. Taurus are considered an analogue of the British Storm Shadow, which have already been delivered to Ukraine. However, the range of the German-Swedish missiles is slightly longer.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius again spoke out against the supply of long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. "We remain of the opinion that this is not our top priority right now," Pistorius told reporters in Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria 03 August 2023. At the same time, he added that concerns about the transfer of missiles are obvious. "We are not the only ones who do not supply. Our American allies also do not supply these cruise missiles. Ours have a special range," the minister said.

However, Pistorius did not rule out that in the future Germany could provide the required weapons to Kyiv. "The time for making a decision has not yet come for us," the head of the German Defense Ministry said. The main priority and competence of the FRG, according to him, are air defense, training support, engineering and armored vehicles. "For this reason, at present we do not see the need for urgent decisions on another issue," the minister concluded.

“The counter-offensive is faltering; Ukraine does not have a significant air force to support it. That leaves only guided missiles like Taurus cruise missiles, with which the Ukrainian army could overcome the minefields laid by the Russians and recapture territory,” declared Social Democratic (SPD) budget politician Andreas Schwarz in Der Spiegel. The stated goal is to defeat Russia militarily. “We want to enable Ukraine to win the war more quickly. For that, it needs Taurus air-to-surface cruise missiles,” Schwarz stressed. There were also no technical reasons against delivery, he said. “With some modifications, the weapons can also be fired by the non-Western fighter jets used in Ukraine so far.”

On August 7, the member of the Bundestag from the Social Democratic Party of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Andreas Schwartz, called for long-range Taurus cruise missiles to be provided to Ukraine. The German government proposed to limit the range of Taurus missiles, which will be transferred to Ukraine, because Chancellor Olaf Scholz wanted to prevent strikes by the Armed Forces on the territory of the Russian Federation. The head of the defense committee of the German Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, spoke against limiting the range of Taurus cruise missiles as a condition for their transfer to Ukraine.

According to information from its own sources reported by German t-online 10 August 2023, based on reports from circles within the Social Democratic Party, the German government intends to announce the supply of Taurus missiles to Ukraine "in the near future," the publication states. "The Chancellery is currently working on resolving this issue with Germany's most important ally and Ukraine's biggest supporter, the United States of America," the article reads.

According to information from government party circles, the German Air Force has also 'greenlighted' the supply of German Taurus missiles. Last week, the Chancellor's Office received a presentation from the Federal Ministry of Defence summarising the most important facts about these missiles: their presence in the Bundeswehr, the risks, and the effectiveness of the weaponry. As the t-online points out, this decision could lead to the supply of American ATACMS missiles. As confirmed by several Social Democrats, a coordinated approach, especially with the United States, is a necessary condition for the Chancellor to agree to new armament systems for Ukraine.

Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, commented 04 September 2023 on possible decision of the United States and Germany to send long-range missiles ATACMS and Taurus to Ukraine. Kuleba stated while speaking to journalists that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz holds the decision on sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine. "I believe that the decision (to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine) lies on the desk of the German Chancellor. He needs to make it," said the Ukrainian minister.

Kuleba added that the decision on possible supply of ATACMS missiles to Ukraine from the United States is still pending. "In my recent conversation with the Secretary of State, we discussed this. He confirmed that they are analysing some aspects related to usage, quantity, to make a final decision. I would like to remind that the United Kingdom and France have provided us with long-range missiles. So it would be more than natural if Germany and the United States join this coalition," emphasised Kuleba. The German government has not yet deciced whether it will send Taurus missiles to Ukraine. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, it is believed that this decision will not be made "for the whole year."

Presidential adviser Mychailo Podolyak told Germany's Bild newspaper that Berlin needed to make "decisions faster and more decisively." He stressed there is "no other way to destroy Russian logistics and rearguard, so Taurus is needed." Podolyak reassured that Kyiv's goal was not "to attack Russian territory," but "to destroy the resources of the occupiers."

Germany postponed the decision to provide the Ukrainian military with Taurus cruise missiles. Some German officials are concerned that the transfer of the missiles could bring Berlin closer to a direct confrontation with Russia, according to The Wall Street Journal 28 September 2023, citing German officials. “German officials said Germany’s three-party coalition government had approved delivery of the Taurus in principle but that Chancellor Olaf Scholz had stalled the move because of concerns that German personnel would have to travel to Ukraine to help service and operate the weapon,” assures WSJ. According to the missile manufacturer MBDA, the Ukrainian forces are able to master Taurus long-range missiles in three months.

Scholz believes moving military personnel to a war zone would require a vote of parliament. He is also concerned that such a move “could drag Germany deeper into the conflict.” “The chancellor must end his blockade of the Taurus delivery. Hesitation and technical excuses only contribute to strengthening Putin’s belief that he can still win, and this only prolongs the war,” said Anton Hofreiter, a senior Green Party lawmaker.

“A similar debate preceded Germany’s decision to send German-made tanks to Ukraine. Scholz only agreed to do so after President Biden agreed to send U.S. tanks. According to what Scholz dubbed the “strategic lockstep” principle, Germany has since insisted on only delivering new types of weapons if the U.S. also does so,” the publication reports.

The head of the Bundestag’s Defense Committee, Free Democratic Party (FDP) politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann spoke in favor of providing Ukraine with German-made Taurus cruise missiles. The lawmaker also argued that Kiev had the right to strike targets in Crimea, and on Russian soil in general. So far, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has been reluctant to supply the long-range rockets to Kiev, despite its repeated requests.

In an interview with Berliner Morgenpost newspaper published on 30 September 2023, Strack-Zimmermann argued that Berlin “should now immediately deliver Taurus,” as the deployment of such cruise missiles could help the Ukrainian military disrupt Russian supply lines. When asked if she had any issue with Kiev potentially using these rockets to strike targets on Russian soil, the MP replied in the negative, adding that “that includes Crimea.” According to the lawmaker, international law gives Ukraine the right to “attack military targets also on the territory of the Russian aggressor,” using any weapons at its disposal, regardless of their origin. The deliberate use of Taurus missiles against civilians would, however, be off-limits, much like the deployment of German troops to Ukraine, Strack-Zimmermann clarified.

"Although Ukraine has significantly increased its production and will continue to do so, we still see that the Western defense industry - the defense industry of the countries that help us - is not able to produce a sufficient amount of artillery ammunition," the minister emphasized. Kuleba noted that Russia clearly prevails in the supply of artillery ammunition. One of the reasons for this is supplies from North Korea. "No matter how funny it sounds, it looks like North Korea is a more effective partner for Russia than friends who supply Ukraine with artillery ammunition. This is ridiculous. And this should change," said the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Kuleba added that decision-makers and stakeholders should stop theorizing about a possible Russian victory. "Because then Ukraine will become the first victim. But Germany and other European countries will be next. And there won't be much time between them," the minister said. That is why, according to him, this is the wrong political approach. Instead, focus on winning.