Germany plans €12B missile arsenal to deter Russia

Germany plans to spend nearly €12 billion on a new long-range missile arsenal to deter Russia, according to internal Defense Ministry documents cited by Politico. The program aims to field several missile types, from cheap systems to US Tomahawks and future hypersonic weapons. The first phase includes low-cost cruise missiles to be deployed by 2027, with candidates from US-Israeli and Ukrainian companies. Berlin also wants US Tomahawk missiles operational by decade's end, while developing advanced hypersonic weapons jointly with Britain at a cost of nearly €9 billion. The funding has not yet been approved and requires Bundestag authorization. The buildup responds to warnings of a potential Russian threat to NATO by the decade's end, with Berlin aiming to make Russian military infrastructure a target far from the front line.