Only 178 MPs for it
Taurus application from the Union faction fails
January 17, 2024, 7:24 p.m
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For months, Kiev has been demanding Berlin supply Taurus cruise missiles. When the CDU and CSU wanted to put pressure on Chancellor Scholz on the matter by submitting a motion in the Bundestag, actual Taurus supporters sensed that the traffic light was purely a party-tactical calculation. So the application falls apart.
The Bundestag has rejected a motion for a resolution by the Union parliamentary group on the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. In a roll-call vote, 178 MPs voted for the bill, 485 against and three abstained. The delivery of cruise missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometers has been demanded for months by several politicians from the traffic light coalition, especially the FDP and the Greens.
The Union faction used the debate about the annual report of the military commissioner for 2022 to submit the application. He should call on the federal government to “finally and immediately provide Ukraine with operational Taurus cruise missiles from the Bundeswehr to the greatest possible extent and to procure them immediately.”
Rejection was clear in advance
During the roll-call vote, the Union apparently hoped that supporters of delivery in the traffic light coalition would join the motion. With 178 yes votes, the proposal now received less support than the number of seats the Union parliamentary group has. It has 197 seats in parliament. The list with the exact voting behavior of the MPs should be published in the evening.
According to “Spiegel”, several Green MPs and the FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who are promoting Taurus deliveries, made it clear in statements before the vote that they did not want to vote with the Union, according to “Spiegel”. According to the magazine, the Green representatives accused the CDU/CSU of party-tactical behavior. Strack-Zimmermann called it “downright indecent” to link the Taurus proposal to the debate on the annual report of the military commissioner.
The federal government has so far refused delivery
The Taurus cruise missiles have a range of more than 500 kilometers and would make it easier for Kiev to attack weapons depots and supply lines. Ukraine has been demanding it for a long time. The federal government has so far rejected the delivery – also because it could be used to attack targets on Russian territory.
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Green Party said in the Bundestag that when it comes to arms deliveries to Ukraine, it is always important to consider “that Germany does not directly become a party to the war.” However, the federal government is supporting Ukraine “massively”, including with artillery ammunition.
The Bundeswehr has received a total of 600 of the Taurus KEPD-350 cruise missile since 2004. There have been Ukrainian demands for the supply of this weapon for months. The five-meter-long cruise missile is launched from fighter aircraft and can fly over 500 kilometers with its jet engine. It orientates itself using data about the terrain and compares its location using image and infrared sensors as well as GPS navigation data. Taurus can fly under enemy radar at high speed at an altitude of less than 50 meters.
Upon impact, an initial charge blows up a gap in the wall or ceiling of the target. A metal rod weighing 400 kilos and filled with explosives penetrates through this and explodes.
The guided missile was manufactured by Taurus Systems GmbH. It is a joint venture between the German subsidiary of the European defense company MBDA and Saab Dynamics from Sweden.