Germany now has about 600 Taurus missiles in stock, and it takes about two years to resume their production. This was reported on March 15 Financial Times (FT) citing analysts.
According to the publication, of the 600 Taurus missiles that the Bundeswehr has in service, only half are in working order.
The FT noted that production lines are now idle. The last time they were used was when the South Korean government asked for it. According to the publication, factories in the Bavarian city of Schrobenhausen only repair sold missiles, and the cost of each is about €1.5 million, depending on the volume of the order.
Analysts noted that the armed forces of Spain, South Korea and Germany possess Taurus missiles, but they have not been used in military operations.
The publication also cites data from the Royal United Services Institute, according to which Russia has increased the production of its long-range missiles from about 40 per month in 2022 to about 100 per month by the end of 2023.
On March 14, the Bundestag voted against a resolution on the supply of Taurus missiles to Ukraine. Thus, the draft resolution put forward by the bloc of the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Unions (CDU/CSU) did not find support.
British Foreign Minister David Cameron said on March 9 that London is ready to help Berlin resolve issues that impede the supply of German Taurus missiles to Kyiv. He did not rule out the possibility of a circular exchange, in which London would receive German Taurus, and Kyiv would receive English Storm Shadow.
This idea was supported a day later by the head of the German Foreign Ministry, Annalena Berbock, recalling that circular arms exchanges had already occurred before.
On February 26, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke out against the supply of Taurus missiles to Ukraine due to the danger of Germany being involved in the conflict. He called this decision final, and then on March 11 he confirmed it again.
Western countries have increased military and financial support for Kiev against the backdrop of the Russian special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022 after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military. However, recently in the West there have been increasingly frequent statements about the need to reduce aid to Ukraine.
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