Taurus missiles unlikely to alter outcome of Ukraine war – German defense minister

Photo: CNN

Nina Voronets

German Taurus missiles are unlikely to change the course of Russia's war against Ukraine.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius expressed this opinion at the NATO Talk conference in Berlin, Rubryka.

"I don't think that these missiles will become a game changer," said the head of the defense department.

Pistorius said that he could not say anything new about the transfer of Taurus and that Germany should follow its interests when providing aid to Ukraine. However, the minister did not specify what exactly he meant.

He also reminded that now Germany is the second supplier of weapons to Ukraine after the USA. At the same time, according to Pistorius, some decisions about weapons "are not easy to make."

"The ATACMS delivered by the USA has a range of 160 km. Taurus – 500 km, it is a completely different system," the minister summarized.

For reference:

This aviation subsonic cruise missile is designed for high-precision hitting of targets.

^{Taurus long-range missiles. Photo: Wikipedia}

Taurus is a German analog of the British Storm Shadow missiles, already successfully used by Ukraine's armed forces. The Taurus cruise missile is launched from a fighter jet and can deliver a 400-kilogram warhead over 500 kilometers. The rocket is an effective weapon against protected targets such as command bunkers or ammunition depots.

Germany, in the early 2000s, ordered 600 Taurus missiles for its air force. However, according to German media, the Bundeswehr currently has only 150 combat-ready Taurus missiles.

As "Militarny" writes, the Taurus cruise missiles, together with the Franco-British Storm Shadow, which Ukraine already uses, will allow striking Russian military infrastructure in the occupied territory at long distances.

It should be noted that on May 27, Ukraine addressed Germany with an official request, in which it asked to provide it with Taurus long-range cruise missiles. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on this topic with Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz.

As Rubryka previously reported, German politicians are gradually changing their point of view regarding the transfer of long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine.