NATO wants to develop long-range missiles capable of hitting Moscow

Four European NATO countries — Germany, France, Italy and Poland — intend to develop new long-range cruise missiles.

According to German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, such missiles will be able to hit targets in Russia and reach Moscow.

Defense ministers of Germany, France, Italy and Poland signed a declaration of intent on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington to develop Deep Precision Strike high-precision long-range weapons capable of accurately hitting remote targets. For the time being, the document contains only general formulations and only indicates an intention to develop this type of arms.

The declaration implies the creation of ground-based weapons with a range of more than a thousand kilometres. It can be either a cruise missile or a ballistic supersonic missile.

The German authorities expect the UK to join the missile development project under the new government.

So far, the German Armed Forces only have air-launched Taurus cruise missile with a range of more than 500 kilometres.

Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington after the signing of the declaration, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that the new missile is intended to serve as a deterrent. According to him, the first draft of the weapon could be presented by the end of the year. Its technical specifications, including the flight range, will be developed later.

An unnamed military source told Reuters that the new missile may have a range of up to 2,000 kilometres to meet NATO requirements.

France believes that the new missile can be based on a modification of the MdCN (Missile de Croisiere Naval) naval cruise missile produced by European defense company MBDA, which also produces Taurus, Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles. MBDA is owned by Airbus.

The development of a missile with a range of more than 500 kilometres means European NATO allies will effectively re-launch a category of weapons prohibited by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), Reuters noted.

The United States plans to begin deploying long-range weapons in Germany in 2026 in order to demonstrate Washington's commitment to NATO to European allies.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow will respond to the deployment of such missiles in a military manner. Russia's reaction will be "professionally calm,” he said.