German defence minister seeks to buy more Taurus cruise missiles, Spiegel reports
BERLIN, Oct 25 (Reuters) -German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius aims to buy 600 Taurus cruise missiles but has not yet secured the necessary funding, Spiegel magazine reported on Friday, as Ukraine continues to push Berlin to supply it with the long-range weapon.
So far, German forces have some 600 of the missiles with a range of more than 500 km (311 miles) in their inventories, to be launched from fighter jets such as the Tornado, the F-15 or the F-18.
The weapon built by European defence company MBDA AIR.PABAES.LLDOF.MI is designed to destroy high-value targets behind enemy lines such as command bunkers, ammunitions and fuel dumps, airfields and bridges.
Russia has been using long-range missiles to destroy targets in Ukraine, including civilian infrastructure, but Ukraine has no easy way to respond.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly denied requests by Ukraine to supply it with the Taurus amid concern over the long range of the weapon and its potential use against targets inside Russia.
Pistorius now wants to buy an advanced version, the Taurus Neo, at a total price of around 2.1 billion euros ($2.3 billion) for 600 missiles, with the first deliveries to take place in 2029, Spiegel reported.
The minister has not yet secured the funds, however, with 350 million euros needed in 2025 to kick off the project and the lion's share of the money to flow from 2029, the magazine reported. For that reason the project is posited only as an option in 2025 budget documents.
The defence ministry in Berlin was not immediately available for comment.
Britain and France have supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, and Ukraine's military has said it had adapted Soviet-made aircraft to use them.
The Kremlin has warned Germany that delivering cruise missiles to Kyiv would lead to a further round of "spiralling tension" in the Ukraine conflict.
($1 = 0.9237 euros)
Reporting by Sabine Siebold, editing by Miranda Murray and Hugh Lawson
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