Overview
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz told lawmakers on Thursday that the United States has approved the sale and that Germany will buy and station Tomahawk cruise missiles on German soil, with exact numbers and delivery timing kept classified.
- A letter of intent signed at the NATO summit in Ankara commits Washington to grant formal approval by August for the sale and for ground‑based Typhon launchers, according to German government sources.
- Under the deal the missiles will be owned and operated by Germany rather than deployed by U.S. units, marking a shift from earlier plans for episodic U.S. long‑range deployments in Europe.
- German and NATO officials say the move responds to U.S. Tomahawk stock shortages caused by recent strikes tied to the Iran and Ukraine conflicts and provides an immediate deterrent while Europe develops its own deep‑strike systems.
- Parallel industrial steps include a Lockheed Martin–Rheinmetall memorandum on ATACMS production in Germany and pooled European programmes, which aim to build long‑term sovereign strike capacity in Europe.