The withdrawal of US troops from Germany is the lesser of the issues. Media reports claim that Trump also appears to have cancelled the planned deployment of Tomahawk cruise missiles, which were supposed to deter Russia.
Among the latest military strategic decisions of the US government under President Donald Trump, in addition to the withdrawal of around 5,000 troops, according to US media reports is the cancellation of the planned temporary deployment of US medium-range missiles in Germany. These are mainly Tomahawk cruise missiles, which can reach to Russia. Experts see this as a bigger problem than reducing the US military presence in Europe, writes the German public broadcaster ARD.
Before the publication, security expert Nico Lange said that Russia has similar missiles in Kaliningrad, “which threaten us“, and Germany does not have the right missiles to respond to this threat. “We wanted to get them from America, but now that will not happen“. According to Lange, the Europeans should “secure this capability as quickly as possible, because it is very important for our security“.
The deployment of “Tomahawk“ cruise missiles with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers was agreed in 2024 between US President Joe Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at the time that the goal was to fill "capability gaps" until Europe starts producing the systems itself.
The deployment of the "Tomahawk" was supposed to begin in 2026. The "Reuters" agency quoted a senior US Defense Department official as saying that a battalion would not be sent to deploy the "Tomahawk" cruise missiles.
"This is actually the more dramatic news"
Security expert Christian Möhling sees this as a major problem. In an interview with public broadcaster ZDF, he said that this was "actually the much more dramatic news". Such missiles are a central element of the deterrent, "because these are missiles that are capable of stopping Russia as it moves - that is, not when it reaches NATO's borders, but considerably earlier“.
Germany currently does not have such a range and the associated intelligence resources. The consequences are paradoxical: the absence of such a battalion weakens NATO's deterrent effect and thus makes direct American involvement within NATO more likely.
Carlo Massala of the Bundeswehr University in Munich warned in the newspaper “Welt am Sonntag” that there is an important gap in capabilities in terms of deterring Russia, which cannot currently be filled with European weapons.
"Hold on until the ELSA missiles appear"
Thomas Erndl, defense spokesman for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), called on Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to quickly provide a replacement for the missiles “Tomahawk“. “We really don't have any more time to waste on the road to a stronger Bundeswehr“, he told the “Bild“ newspaper.
The Social Democrats' faction described the fact that the agreed medium-range missiles would not be deployed as a “bad sign“ and called for the acceleration of the European project ELSA (European Long-Range Strike Approach) - including through more active cooperation with Ukraine“.
The “Tomahawk“cruise missiles should strengthen Germany's deterrence capability until Europe's own development of medium-range missiles within the framework of the ELSA project is ready between 2030 and 2032. Ukraine has not only significantly developed its drone capabilities, but according to its own information is already producing missiles that can be used to attack aims deep into the interior of Russia, the public ARD also recalls.