Col. Robert Hamilton (Ret.):
So I think it would be a really big deal if two conditions hold. One, if — Germany has been very tight-lipped, at least the Merz government has been very tight-lipped about whether it has or will supply Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
If it does, the Taurus has a range of 500 kilometers. It’s a very long range. It’s longer, for instance, than U.S. ATACMS, which is a ground-launched missile. And so if Germany supplies Taurus missiles to Ukraine, and if Germany, the U.K., France, and the U.S., and U.S. is critical here, if they all, in conjunction with each other, lift the restrictions on Ukraine’s using those weapons to strike deep into Russia, then it’s very significant.
The reason I say the U.S. is critical is, my understanding is that U.S. support is critical for the guidance systems of even non-U.S. missiles. In other words, without U.S. support and acquiescence, even the SCALP Storm Shadow and potentially the Taurus missiles will not be as accurate and effective as they would be if the U.S. provided the support for the guidance systems.
