Ukrainian Member of Parliament Yehor Cherniev has hopes regarding the delivery of German Taurus cruise missiles.
“My friends in the Bundestag have just informed me that key parliamentary factions have reached a consensus on the transfer of Taurus missiles to Ukraine,” Cherniev wrote via Facebook according to the German news platform n-tv.de. It remains unclear to which specific matter he refers. The decision on the delivery of new weapons systems has so far been made exclusively by the Chancellor’s Office. So far, the German government has rejected the delivery of weapons with a range of more than 500 kilometers, although several members of the three government factions had already spoken out in favor.
The “Taurus” cruise missile has a length of about five meters and a weight of just under 1,400 kilograms, according to the German news website tagesschau.de. It has its own engine and multiple navigation systems that enable autonomous low-level flight through enemy territory. This allows these cruise missiles to be fired from a safe distance by fighter aircraft in wartime, hitting and destroying targets up to 500 kilometers away. Due to their low flight profile and comparatively small size, they are more difficult for enemy air defenses to detect.
Since 2005, the German armed forces have had the “Taurus” weapon system, which can be used in conjunction with the “Tornado” and “Eurofighter” combat aircraft. It is manufactured by a subsidiary of the defense contractor MBDA. The “Taurus” cruise missile is the German and Swedish counterpart to the British-French “Storm Shadow” and “Scalp” cruise missiles developed at the same time.
Image: president.gov.ua, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons (image size changed)
