High precision standoff weapon
Kyiv asks Berlin for the Taurus
May 26, 2023 at 9:28 p.m
The German-Swedish Taurus cruise missile has recently been the focus of speculation by CDU foreign politician Kiesewetter about how Ukraine can be helped. According to a report, the country is now officially asking for the weapon.
Ukraine has asked Germany for the German-Swedish Taurus cruise missile. This was confirmed by the Federal Ministry of Defense of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung” (FAS). A spokesman for the federal government did not want to comment on confidential information, according to which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is said to have personally addressed this request to Chancellor Scholz.
The Taurus is an unmanned stand-off weapon that launches from a fighter plane and can deliver a 400-kilo warhead with pinpoint accuracy over 500 kilometers to the target. It flies at treetop height and is therefore difficult to shoot down. Therefore, it is considered an effective weapon against protected targets such as command bunkers or ammunition depots. The CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter suggested some time ago that Ukraine should be given this weapon.
In an interview with the FAS, Kiesewetter also called for “active” support for the delivery of American F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine should Western allies decide to do so. The chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Bundestag, Michael Roth from the SPD, also told the medium according to his advance report that Germany could “be part of an alliance to deliver F-16s”.
Which jets does the Taurus fit?
The idea of such an alliance has been in the air since US President Joe Biden announced that Ukrainian pilots would be trained on the F-16. Since then, there has been talk of a delivery network that could include Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland. Like Germany, Great Britain does not have the F-16 in service, but would like to support the project with training, among other things.
Kiesewetter said Germany could also help with the training, and if America wanted to hold the planned courses at its German bases, accommodation could be provided. Germany can also help with “logistics, financing and refueling”. Berlin could contribute to arming the F-16 with the Taurus, which Ukraine has now requested. Experts assured him that it was not “rocket science” to adapt the German cruise missile to the American F-16.
According to various experts, it is still unclear whether and how Soviet-style fighter jets, such as those used in the Ukrainian Air Force, can be launched.
Roth and Kiesewetter justify their claim with the significant losses suffered by the Ukrainian air force since the beginning of the Russian invasion. According to American data, Ukraine had already lost 60 of its 145 combat aircraft earlier this year.