Germany plans €3.4 billion purchase of US Tomahawk missiles and Typhon launchers

Why it matters

The purchase would be Germany's first indigenous ground-based long-range strike capability — something it has not possessed since the postwar era — and is explicitly framed by planners as a deterrent against Russia. It signals a deeper shift in Berlin's defence posture, raises the prospect of German industry entering the Tomahawk supply chain, and fits into a broader European rearmament cycle tied to NATO's new 3.5% of GDP core-defence spending target by 2035.

What happened

Germany's Ministry of Defence is preparing to set aside nearly €3.4 billion in the 2027 budget for the purchase of American-made Tomahawk cruise missiles and Typhon launchers, according to an internal government planning document reviewed by Politico. A Defence Ministry spokesperson confirmed that buying the US Typhon system with Tomahawk missiles remains planned, but declined to comment on the €3.4 billion figure, citing the ongoing budget process and the role of parliament in approving expenditures.

The figure is the ministry's current estimate of total funding needs and may change before the budget is adopted and the deal is finally approved. The acquisition would give Germany its first ground-based long-range strike capability — which it does not currently have — and Berlin plans to put the Typhon system into operation by the end of the decade.

The current push traces back to 2025, when Berlin formally approached Washington to purchase Typhon launchers with Tomahawks. A breakthrough came at a NATO summit in Ankara in July, when Trump and Chancellor Friedrich Merz reached a principled agreement on the acquisition; the German government then said Washington had agreed in principle to authorize the sale, while noting details still had to be settled. Earlier, in 2024, then-President Joe Biden and then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz had agreed US forces would deploy long-range weapons in Germany from 2026 under US command — a plan that was later cancelled by Trump.

Officials from both countries say talks now include possible joint production and ways to involve German industry in the Tomahawk supply chain, though no production model or work distribution has been agreed. Washington will retain control over sensitive American technologies and intellectual property. Separately, German planners estimate that a full new arsenal of long-range weapons designed to deter Russia will cost nearly €12 billion, and Berlin is also weighing European weapons projects and modernization of its Taurus cruise missiles alongside the US purchase.

Background

Germany has not possessed its own ground-based long-range strike capability since the postwar era. Tomahawk cruise missiles, made by Raytheon, have a range of about 2,500 km; the Typhon launcher, also known as the Strategic Mid-Range Fires System, is a mobile US Army system capable of firing them. In 2024, then-US President Joe Biden and then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed US forces would deploy long-range weapons in Germany from 2026 under American command; that plan was cancelled by President Donald Trump. In 2025, Berlin formally approached Washington to buy Typhon launchers with Tomahawks, and at a NATO summit in Ankara in July, Trump and Chancellor Friedrich Merz reached a principled agreement on the purchase. Washington has put forward the "prospect of industrial cooperation" as part of the deal, with the US set to retain control over sensitive technologies and intellectual property. Germany plans to put Typhon into operation by the end of this decade and estimates a full new long-range arsenal aimed at deterring Russia at nearly €12 billion. Britain and Germany also plan by 2034 to jointly develop a high-precision long-range missile with a range of more than 2,000 km. European industrial involvement has gained momentum amid US pressure to replenish its own missile stocks, reportedly depleted by the war against Iran, and as NATO governments ramp up spending toward a new target of 3.5% of GDP for core defence needs by 2035.