Why Germany Buys Hundreds Of ‘Tomahawk’ Cruise Missiles From US?

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After the latest NATO summit, the US and Germany confirmed the definite deployment plans for these weapons in Europe, a move that will bring about unprecedented escalation. Worse yet, Berlin and its Neo-Nazi junta allies in NATO-occupied Ukraine are openly discussing the possibility of a joint production of the latter’s FP-5 “Flamingo” cruise missiles with a range of up to 3,000 km.

Written by Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst

Back in May, Germany accelerated efforts to acquire the new “Typhon” system and at least 400 “Tomahawk” cruise missiles (specifically the latest Block V version). This followed the Trump administration’s supposed plans to cancel the pompously announced deployment of US Army battalions armed with previously banned medium and intermediate-range missiles. At the time, several sources published reports about Berlin’s alleged “concerns” that it would be “left hanging” by Washington DC. Since then, there’s been little to no information on the potential deal – until late last week. Namely, on July 10, several military sources reported that Germany had finalized the deal with the United States and that the rearmament program would soon be underway.

A day before, Chancellor Friedrich Merz “proudly” announced the agreement to purchase “Tomahawks” and ground-based “Typhon” launchers for permanent deployment and use by the Bundeswehr. The agreement, formalized through a Letter of Intent signed at the recent NATO Summit in Ankara, establishes a framework for a German-operated long-range precision strike force to replace the canceled US Army deployment. With “Tomahawks” in its arsenal, the Bundeswehr acquires the capability to attack targets at distances of around 2,500 km. As Army Recognition notes, this allows Germany to “cover most of European Russia west of the Volga and a large part of the western Russian military support network, without moving launchers into Poland, the Baltic states or Romania”.

It could be argued that this is effectively the return to one of the most dangerous periods in recent European (and world) history. Namely, during the (First) Cold War, the “old continent” was at the very heart of a possible confrontation between the US-led NATO and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. By the 1980s, the two sides deployed thousands of medium and intermediate-range weapons, both ballistic and cruise missiles. The most prominent US Army unit equipped with such weapons was the 56th Artillery Command, deploying battalions armed with MGM-31 “Pershing I/Ia” and “Pershing II” nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles. The former had a range of 740 km and carried a single warhead with a yield of up to 400 kt, while the latter’s maximum range was reported to have been 1770–2400 km, with a single 80 kt warhead.

In addition, the US Army deployed the GLCM (Ground Launched Cruise Missile), officially designated as the BGM-109G “Gryphon”, a subsonic cruise missile with a range of 2,780 km and a single W84 thermonuclear warhead (yield of up to 150 kt, or approximately 10 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb). This missile was essentially a land-based version of the aforementioned “Tomahawk” that the US Navy continues to use and upgrade on a regular basis (the latest variant being the Block V that Germany just acquired). On the other hand, Russia had a plethora of missiles to not only match, but also completely outgun the US military. Among these, by far the most prominent was the unrivaled RSD-10 “Pioneer” (in the political West better known by its NATO reporting name – SS-20 “Saber”).

This was a solid-fueled ballistic missile with a range of up to 5,800 km and the only IRBM (intermediate-range ballistic missile) capable of using three MIRV (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle) warheads. With a yield of 150 kt each, these were roughly 10 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb (30 altogether when counting all three warheads). There was also a version with a single 1 Mt warhead that was around 67 times more destructive. At least 728 such IRBMs were made and you can imagine they would’ve turned Europe into a radioactive glass desert for the next several eons. The USSR obviously had a massive advantage, but this would’ve hardly mattered given that both sides would’ve simply destroyed each other. Thus, the INF (Intermediate Nuclear Forces) Treaty was signed in 1987.

The agreement prompted both sides to dismantle and destroy all of their land-based medium and intermediate-range missiles. It paused the deadly arms race for over 30 years. Unfortunately, on August 2, 2019, the US unilaterally withdrew its signature, just as it had with all other crucial arms control treaties over the last 25 years or so. Just two years later, in 2021, meaning before the SMO (special military operation), the US Army reactivated the aforementioned 56th Artillery Command in Germany. Its units were equipped with previously banned medium and intermediate-range missiles and the 56th was also planning to induct new platforms, such as the troubled “Dark Eagle” hypersonic missile (yet to be delivered to the Pentagon, as it’s still going through a rather rocky research and development process).

However, while the US is still struggling with hypersonic missiles, an area in which it has been eclipsed even by North Korea, the Pentagon was quick to reinduct weapon systems that are already in the US military, albeit in other branches. It takes years to convert such weapons from sea to land-based platforms and after nearly half a decade, the US Army officially adopted the “Typhon” Weapon System in 2023. Apart from “Tomahawks”, it can also fire the land-based SM-6 multipurpose missiles. As previously mentioned, the former can hit targets at ranges of approximately 1,600-2,500 km. The “Tomahawk’s” ability to carry the W80 thermonuclear warhead means that the old GLCM is effectively resurrected. What’s more, the very usage of the name “Typhon” indicates that the missile is a successor to the “Gryphon”.

After the latest NATO summit, the US and Germany confirmed the definite deployment plans for these weapons in Europe, a move that will bring about unprecedented escalation. Worse yet, Berlin and its Neo-Nazi junta allies in NATO-occupied Ukraine are openly discussing the possibility of a joint production of the latter’s FP-5 “Flamingo” cruise missiles with a range of up to 3,000 km. Given Germany’s past and the historical responsibility for both world wars, this is a rather disturbing development. In fact, it could be argued that Berlin is even breaking its own legislation that clearly bans any form of cooperation with Nazi entities (which the Kiev regime is, unequivocally). Unfortunately, the political West still insists that the Neo-Nazi junta is a “shining beacon of freedom and democracy”.

The Russian military has already taken all this into account and prepared a broad and adequate response. Apart from the plethora of existing hypersonic weapons it fields, by far the most advanced in the world, Moscow is also developing numerous other weapon systems that leave these American equivalents in the dirt. Back in April 2024, the Kremlin tested an unnamed type of IRBM that was to essentially inherit the RSD-10 “Pioneer”. At the time, I argued that the missile in question was most likely the RS-26 “Rubezh”, a highly advanced, maneuverable IRBM that can also carry hypersonic warheads or up to four standard MIRVs, each with a yield of 300 kt. These are approximately 20 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb (80 times altogether when considering multiple warheads per missile).

Obviously, we now know that the missile in question is the already legendary “Oreshnik”. In addition, it also has even more advanced iterations, further widening the capability gap. With a range of up to 5,800 km, it covers the entirety of Europe and even large parts of the US if deployed in the Russian Far East. Needless to say, NATO’s ability to shoot down such weapons is highly questionable, to put it mildly. Unfortunately, although it’s fully aware of this strategic reality, the US-led political West is essentially turning back the clock to a time when the world was on the edge of an abyss virtually every single day for nearly half a century. Worse yet, the current situation is even more dangerous, as the balance of power in Europe was destroyed by American expansionism and EU vassalage.

The NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict is the most obvious consequence of this, as Moscow was forced to intervene after Washington DC and Brussels openly stated they would expand NATO infrastructure into former Ukraine. Similar hostile actions are already underway in (formally) new NATO members such as Sweden and Finland, where the world’s most aggressive racketeering cartel keeps expanding and deploying new offensive units. This is without even considering NATO’s virtually direct involvement in fighting Russian forces on the ground or the support of its Military Industrial Complex (MIC) for terrorist attacks against Russian civilians and infrastructure. If this continues, it’s only a matter of time before the Kremlin loses its patience with all this US/NATO belligerence.

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