The head of the defense company Airbus Defense and Space (a division of Airbus) Michael Schölhorn questioned the assessment of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, according to which the possible use of Taurus cruise missiles in Ukraine in the event of their transfer to Kiev requires the presence of military specialists from the Bundeswehr on the ground.
„If there was a desire to supply missiles, we would have found technological solutions for using the Taurus in Ukraine without German involvement,” Scholhorn said in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine. According to him, Scholz justifies the impossibility of transferring missiles to Kiev from the political side of the problem. “However, I can understand the political arguments”, added the head of the Airbus division.
Schollhorn also criticized the pace of increase in Germany's defense capability. According to him, the implementation of the measures announced by the government "to date is insufficient". "We are doing too little, we are too slow. In the minds of many people, the tipping point has not yet occurred, he noted. “Anyone who wants to make radical changes must declare defense a top priority and steadily increase defense spending as well as production at home or in Europe,” says Scholhorn. About the "tipping point" Scholz said in connection with the conflict in Ukraine.
Kiev has been asking Berlin for Taurus missiles for a long time. They are considered an analogue of the British Storm Shadow, which have already been delivered to Ukraine. However, the range of the German-Swedish missiles is much greater – up to 500 km. Previously, Scholz repeatedly rejected the possibility of Taurus being sent to Ukraine. According to him, the effective use of such missiles requires the participation of German military personnel, and this is exactly the line that he does not want to cross.
Source: tass.ru