US approves sale of Tomahawk missiles to Germany, Merz says

The United States has approved the sale of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz says, despite previous doubts over a planned deployment.

“On the sidelines of the NATO meeting in Ankara, we agreed with the American government that American Tomahawk missiles will be purchased by us and stationed in Germany,” Merz tells MPs in a statement to parliament.

The move will “close an important strategic gap in our defenses,” he says.

“At the same time, we will work on developing our own European systems and stationing them in Europe.”

Merz does not say when he expected the Tomahawks to be delivered.

The missiles are mainly launched from submarines and warships and can travel more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles).

Yesterday, the United Kingdom announced that a dozen European NATO allies — including Germany — would jointly spend about $50 billion over the next decade to develop new long-range precision strike weapons.

A German government source says that Berlin plans to contribute roughly half of the cost of the project.