As of: February 27, 2024, 3:36 a.m
By: Andreas Jäger
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Split
The traffic light government is not supplying Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, but is fundamentally in favor of long-range weapons.
However, the alternatives to the Taurus are manageable.
Berlin – Taurus: This is the name of the cruise missile that is currently being controversially discussed in Germany.
The Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag recently called for this special weapons system to be delivered to Ukraine.
Politicians from the FDP and the Greens also want something similar, even if the majority of them rejected the opposition proposal.
Although the traffic light coalition is fundamentally in favor of long-range weapons, at the request of the SPD it explicitly did not mention the word Taurus in its Bundestag proposal for support for Ukraine.
Taurus cruise missile has a range of 500 kilometers
The special thing about the Taurus is its range - this is around 500 kilometers.
This means: Even without entering the enemy's territory, targets there could still be hit.
And that is the crux of the matter, why Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the majority of his SPD reject the Taurus delivery to Ukraine.
The federal government currently does not want to deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
© Andrea Bienert/Bundeswehr/dpa
Germany does not have long-range weapons comparable to the Taurus.
However , as the website
Defense Express
reports, the term long-range weapon is rather ambiguous.
Therefore, the further developed version of the Vulcano bullets with a range of 70 kilometers can also be seen as a long-range weapon.
These have already been delivered to Ukraine.
Germany would be able to order other cruise missiles
In the absence of other alternatives to the Taurus, the only possible option would be for Germany to order a different type of cruise missile for Ukraine.
The Storm Shadow/SCALP, a cruise missile developed by Great Britain and France, could be considered here.
Both France and Great Britain have already delivered some copies of the SCALP to Ukraine.
However, with a range of around 250 kilometers, the SCALP cannot quite keep up with the Taurus.
(Andreas Jäger)