Why Ukraine insists on Germany supplying Taurus cruise missiles
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 11:16 AM (GMT+7)
What is so special about the Taurus cruise missile that Ukraine has to insist on Germany providing it, this has been partly clarified in the British publication Financial Times (FT).
The German-made Taurus cruise missile is considered Europe's leading long-range strike weapon, with many special technical and tactical features, according to the Financial Times. Western allies including the US, France and the UK have provided Ukraine with many types of very advanced long-range strike missiles, but the Kyiv government still insists on adding the Taurus, because they see it as an indispensable piece of the puzzle, according to the Financial Times.
Although Taurus has the same weight, size, and range as the French/British Scalp-EG/Storm Shadow, the difference with the German-made missile lies in the Mephisto smart warhead system. According to Financial Times.
This type of warhead is programmed to penetrate multiple layers of material and explode at the desired location, ensuring maximum damage to targets such as bridges and shelters. Currently, Ukraine is in dire need of Taurus to attack such structures in Donetsk, according to Financial Times.
Not only that, there are also many speculations about an electromagnetic pulse generator inside the Taurus missile, which will be activated when approaching the target, thereby disabling all air defense radars, making the missile "absolutely invulnerable". Another factor to consider is that the Taurus missile is also equipped with a high-performance turbofan engine, giving it a greater operating range when placed next to the Scalp-EG/Storm Shadow. According to Financial Times.
Furthermore, thanks to design solutions and stealth technology, Taurus can fly close to the terrain at an altitude of only 50 meters above the water, avoiding detection by most advanced air defense or missile defense radars. According to Financial Times.
A very notable development also published by the FT is that a leaked conversation between two German officers shows that the Ukrainian Armed Forces can be trained to use Taurus missiles to operate independently for a maximum period of 12 weeks. According to the Financial Times.
If true, the above developments would negate German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's assessment of the need to send German military personnel to Ukraine to directly operate the Taurus missiles, in order to achieve high combat efficiency. According to Financial Times.
The real problem, added Christian Mölling, a defense expert at the German Foreign Policy Association think tank, is simply integrating the Taurus missile into any existing Ukrainian Air Force fighter jets, according to the Financial Times.
But this has been done before with the Scalp-EG/Storm Shadow cruise missile, supplied by France/UK, so predicting a similar job for Taurus is not an impossible task. According to the Financial Times.
Another problem is that according to Fabian Hoffman, a PhD in rocket science at the University of Oslo, the UK had a total of 850 Storm Shadow missiles before the weapons were sent to Ukraine, while France had 460 Scalp-EG missiles in stock. According to Financial Times.
As for Germany, it has a total of 600 Taurus missiles, but it is estimated that only half are combat-ready, so if they are sent to aid Ukraine, Berlin will face a serious shortage. According to Financial Times.
The immediate solution is for Germany to "overhaul" the missiles in storage and move towards restoring the production line, but the production of a new batch is expected to require up to 2 years of preparation time, according to the Financial Times.
PV (According to ANTĐ)
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