Germany has struck a deal with the United States to purchase long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles and station them on German soil, Chancellor Friedrich Merz told the Bundestag on Thursday, describing the move as closing a major strategic gap in the country’s defenses.
Merz said the agreement was reached on the sidelines of this week’s NATO summit in Ankara, adding that Germany would simultaneously work to develop its own European long-range strike systems for future deployment. A German government source said defense ministers from both countries signed a letter of intent on Tuesday following talks between Merz, President Donald Trump and senior security officials. Washington has committed to formally approving the sale of the missiles, along with ground-based Typhoon launch systems, by August, though the number of missiles involved remains classified.
The deal reverses course after Trump earlier this year rejected a 2024 agreement, struck under former President Joe Biden, to station Tomahawks in Germany. Berlin had since pushed to instead purchase the missiles outright. The Tomahawk has a range of up to 2,500 kilometers, putting Moscow — roughly 1,600 kilometers from Berlin — within reach if deployed from German territory. Germany’s defense ministry has previously cited the need to counter Russia’s own stationing of nuclear-capable missiles as a rationale for acquiring the weapons.
The purchase comes as European NATO members, lacking their own medium-range strike systems, work to reduce reliance on the US for such capabilities. A dozen European allies, including Germany, agreed this week to jointly spend about 50 billion dollars over the next decade developing new long-range precision-strike weapons under the European Long-Range Strike Approach, a project first launched at NATO’s 2024 Washington summit. A German government source said Berlin plans to fund roughly half of that cost.
