Germany has reached an agreement with the United States to purchase Tomahawk cruise missiles, Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced to the Bundestag on Thursday. The deal, struck on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, will see the American-made cruise missiles stationed on German soil for the first time. Merz described the acquisition as closing "an important strategic gap" in Germany's defences, with the missiles intended primarily to deter Russia.
The Tomahawk is a long-range cruise missile with a reach of between 1,600 and 2,500 kilometres, meaning it could theoretically strike targets as far as Russian territory when launched from Germany. The missiles fall into the category of intermediate-range weapons — systems that were banned under the 1987 INF Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union, later Russia, until Washington withdrew from that agreement in 2019, citing Russian violations. No such weapons have previously been stationed in Germany. The precise number of missiles and launchers, as well as the financial terms of the deal, have not been made public. Crucially, the agreement does not include the deployment of American soldiers to operate the systems; Germany will handle that independently. US approval for the purchase is expected to be formally granted in August.
The deal has a complicated backstory. In 2024, then-President Joe Biden had promised to station not only Tomahawks but also SM-6 missiles and newly developed hypersonic weapons in Germany. President Donald Trump subsequently cancelled that commitment, in what was widely seen as a reaction to Merz having publicly criticised Trump's approach to Iran earlier this year. The new agreement suggests Trump has reversed course, on the condition that Germany pays for the weapons itself.
The announcement drew mixed reactions in Berlin. While Merz presented the summit as a success, senior coalition partner SPD's parliamentary leader Matthias Miersch voiced cautious unease, pointing to Trump's renewed claims on Greenland and his threats to cut trade ties with Spain, made during the same Ankara summit. "We cannot rely on the American president in this way," Miersch said, arguing that Europe must develop its own defence capabilities. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul had similarly described some of Trump's remarks as "irritating." European NATO members currently possess no intermediate-range missile systems of their own, though Merz stated that work on developing such capabilities is under way.
The purchase underscores a broader shift in German and European defence policy, driven by continued uncertainty over American commitments to the continent. For Germany, stationing intermediate-range missiles on its territory marks a significant strategic and symbolic step — one that reflects both the urgency felt in Berlin and the delicate balancing act of maintaining transatlantic ties while investing in European strategic autonomy.