Germany appears unlikely to restrict Taurus range if transferred to Ukraine

Defense Express reported the information.

The previous attempt to vote on the transfer failed due to a procedural violation and an attempt at narrow party PR, rather than opposition to the idea itself, clarified the Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence of Ukraine, Yehor Chernyev.

The number of Taurus missiles Germany can provide remains uncertain, as conflicting reports suggest different figures. While the head of the German defense ministry, Boris Pistorius, mentioned that Germany may have over 500 such missiles, retired colonel and CDU deputy Roderich Kiesewetter previously indicated a count of only 150 missiles in operational condition.

Responding to queries about the possibility of Germany redesigning the Taurus missiles to limit their range, Chernyev stated that such ideas have been proposed as a compromise but have not gained support thus far. There were earlier reports suggesting that the missiles could be updated to restrict their range and prevent them from reaching Russian territory. The actual range of the Taurus cruise missile is over 500 kilometers.

If Germany approves the transfer of Taurus missiles to Ukraine this month, the process of adaptation for use with the Su-24M and operator training is estimated to take about six months, according to MBDA Deutschland CEO Joachim Knopf. This timeline indicates that Ukraine could receive the missiles around the end of the summer.