Message to Moscow

Berlin and Paris develop new precision missiles

Archive image: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a visit to the troops in 2022 - a MARS-2 multiple rocket launcher stands in the background.(Bild: AFP/APA/Ronny Hartmann)

After more than two years of war in Ukraine, the heads of state of EU heavyweights Germany and France recently met to discuss a joint military strategy and the European deterrent potential vis-à-vis Moscow. The result of the talks: Berlin and Paris are jointly developing a long-range weapon capable of hitting targets deep inside Russian territory. It is a message to Putin.

One of deterrence: the new Franco-German precision missiles, with the British also on board, are to have a range of hundreds of kilometers, high accuracy and greater effectiveness than current precision missiles such as the US ATACMS, which the Ukrainians are using to defend themselves against Russia's attempted invasion. Conveniently stationed, they should be able to destroy targets in the Russian hinterland and be an important component of a European security architecture that Macron and Scholz have been working on for some time - and which also includes nuclear weapons, tanks and fighter jets. An inventory of European armament.