London’s weekly The Economist ran a commentary yesterday trumpeting the U.S. plan to put long range missiles in Germany. The theme of it was this: When Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019 everybody was horrified. Now, with one of the “lessons” of the Ukraine war being the “importance” of long range strike, everybody in Europe is now clamoring to have long-range missiles on their territory.
“On July 10th America and Germany announced that from 2026 a trio of American medium-range missiles—all non-nuclear [or so the author claimed—ed.]—would be deployed to Germany,” The Economist claimed. “It is the latest manifestation of the Zeitenwende (turning point) in German security policy. But it is also part of a wider resurgence of European interest in ‘deep-strike’ capabilities, fuelled by the lessons of the war in Ukraine. That has implications for European defense industries, the military balance between NATO and Russia and the dynamics of escalation in any future war.”
“America plans to put three missiles in Germany. One is the 500 km-plus range SM-6 ballistic missile, currently used as a ship-based anti-air weapon. The second is the 2,500 km-range Tomahawk cruise missile, largely fired today from ships. The third and most capable is the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon, also known as Dark Eagle, thought to travel a whopping 3,000 km-plus. All far outstrip the longest-range land-based missile in Europe today, the 300 km-range ATACMS ballistic missile.
“They will not be the only such missiles in Europe. In April Emmanuel Macron, France’s President, called on allies to build Europe a deep-strike capability of its own. On July 12th France, Germany, Italy and Poland signed a letter of intent to build a cruise missile with a range of more than 1,000 km. Many countries already operate similar missiles launched from planes and ships. Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland are buying 1,000 km-range JASSM-ER missiles for their F-35 jets; the Dutch navy is also buying Tomahawks for its ships and subs.”
Not mentioned by The Economist is the U.S. development of the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear (SLCM-N), mandated by then-President Donald Trump’s Nuclear Posture Review in 2018 and since funded by the U.S. Congress. Since it will fit in the same launcher as the Tomahawk, there’s no reason to rule out that the SLCM-N could one day be deployed on land.
