Germany will buy and station U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles after Trump’s troop drawdown clouded an earlier Pentagon deployment plan, Chancellor Friedrich Merz says.
Germany agreed to purchase U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles and station them on its own soil, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday, after President Donald Trump’s troop drawdown left an earlier deployment plan in doubt.
The agreement marks a shift from a Biden-era plan for the U.S. military to temporarily deploy long-range missiles in Germany to a German-owned and German-stationed capability, underscoring new strains on NATO burden-sharing as Washington reduces its footprint in Europe.
Merz told the Bundestag that the deal was struck on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
“On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara we also agreed with the American government that Tomahawk missiles would be purchased by us and stationed in Germany,” Merz said.
Washington committed in a letter of intent signed Tuesday to approving Germany’s procurement of Tomahawk missiles and ground-based Typhon launchers in August, according to a Reuters-derived account. The number of missiles and launchers involved was not disclosed and remains classified.
“We are closing a critical strategic gap in our defence, while simultaneously working to develop our own European systems and station them in Europe,” Merz said.
From a U.S. Bridge to a German Purchase
The purchase follows uncertainty that took hold after Trump announced in May that he would reduce the U.S. military presence in Germany. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed May 1 that the U.S. would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany over six to 12 months.
In July 2024, the United States and Germany, then led by President Joe Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, announced that the U.S. would begin episodic deployments of long-range fires from its Multi-Domain Task Force in Germany starting in 2026.
“The United States will begin episodic deployments of the long-range fires capabilities of its Multi-Domain Task Force in Germany in 2026, as part of planning for enduring stationing of these capabilities in the future,” the two governments said in a joint statement at the time. Those units, once fully developed, were to include SM-6, Tomahawk and developmental hypersonic weapons “which have significantly longer range than current land-based fires in Europe,” the statement said.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the Biden-Scholz arrangement was meant as a stopgap. “That was an agreement between Joe Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the time − as a temporary bridge, until we as Europeans had developed our own systems,” Pistorius told reporters in May, adding that its uncertain fate “tears this capability gap open again.”
Germany’s response has included modernizing its Taurus KEPD 350 missile stockpile, accelerating a Taurus Neo variant, pursuing the ground-launched Typhon system and joining a six-nation European Long-Range Strike Approach with France, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Defense News reported. Berlin and London are also developing deep-strike capability beyond 2,000 kilometers under a bilateral framework known as Trinity House.
Comparing the Missiles
The Tomahawk, made by Raytheon, an RTX business, can be launched from ships, submarines and ground launchers and can strike targets from about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away in its current Block IV/V configuration, according to RTX and U.S. Navy specifications; Germany has not disclosed which variant it is acquiring.
Germany’s Taurus KEPD 350, by contrast, is fired from fighter jets and has a range of around 500 kilometers — three to five times shorter than the Tomahawk’s, according to the Reuters-derived account.
The ground-launched Typhon system at the center of Germany’s request is also used by the U.S. Army under the name Mid-Range Capability. A full configuration includes a battery operations center, four launchers, prime movers and modified trailers, U.S. Army Pacific said, and each battery can carry 16 missiles loaded at once, Defense News reported.
Congressional Pushback
The withdrawal that shelved the earlier deployment plan drew bipartisan criticism in Washington. Sen. Roger Wicker and Rep. Mike Rogers, the chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services committees, said in a May 2 statement that they were “very concerned by the decision to withdraw a U.S. brigade from Germany.”
“Rather than withdrawing forces from the continent altogether, it is in America’s interest to maintain a strong deterrent in Europe by moving these 5,000 U.S. forces to the east,” the two lawmakers said.
Merz described the outcome of the NATO summit as showing the alliance was “united, strong and self-confident.” He told lawmakers in Berlin that Germany still values its trans-Atlantic ties but is prepared to invest more in its own defense.
“But we as Europeans are also strong, and we have understood that we cannot simply outsource our security,” Merz told the chamber.
Key Takeaways
- Germany agreed to buy and station U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles after uncertainty over a planned U.S. deployment, Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced July 9.
- The number of missiles and launchers involved has not been disclosed and remains classified.
- The purchase follows President Donald Trump’s May announcement of a U.S. troop drawdown, which Defense News reported effectively shelved an earlier Biden-era plan.
- Merz said the deal closes a strategic defense gap while Germany continues developing European long-range systems, including Taurus Neo and a six-nation European effort.
- Bipartisan U.S. lawmakers criticized the troop withdrawal that preceded Germany’s decision.