Belgium and Germany announced that they will cooperate on the production of a "high-precision deep-strike weapon" with a range of over 2000 kilometers. It is not yet clear whether a ballistic or cruise missile will be developed - or perhaps both types.
ΠThe project reflects growing ambitions among NATO's European members to possess long-range strike capabilities in the face of the growing Russian threat to the alliance's eastern flank, The War Zone notes.
The announcement was made in Berlin by German Defense Minister Boris Πstoris and my British colleague John Healy, before the meeting of defense ministers from the so-called European Group of Five (E5) - Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Πshol.
ΠThe plan to develop a deep precision strike weapon is the most ambitious development of the weapon within the framework of the bilateral defense cooperation pact, the so-called Trinity Hayes Agreement, signed between Great Britain and Germany in October last year.
According to a statement by the British Ministry of Defense, the new weapon "will be among the most advanced systems ever developed by Great Britain, to protect the British public and to strengthen the growing field of HATO, while simultaneously stimulating the defense sectors of Great Britain and Europe".
The time frame for the development of the new missile has not yet been announced, as has the potential cost of the program. However, we are certainly talking about a multi-million dollar project, which also has great export potential - against the background of the increasingly complex relations of the USA with its close allies, the purchase of Tomahawks may prove problematic.
One thing is clear - at a range of 2000 kilometers, the missile of Germany and Great Britain would reach Moscow after a shot from almost every point in Germany.
Russia's large-scale use of ground-based ballistic and cruise missiles targeting Ukraine highlights a major gap in the arsenals of many European countries against HATO. In fact, among the European members of HATO, only Turkey possesses a conventional ground-based missile with a range of over 300 kilometers - the domestically developed Vora short-range ballistic missile.
Last summer, France, Germany, Italy and Poland launched the European Long-Range Attack Approach (ELSA), which Sweden and Great Britain have recently joined. ΠThe project, led by France, aims to provide a missile with a range of between 1,000 and 2,000 kilometers, which should be operational by the 1930s.