It was probably the most impressive scene in this week’s Taurus debate in the Bundestag: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), visibly moved, personally addressed the CDU’s foreign politician, Norbert Röttgen, after asking a question about the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Scholz says to Röttgen in front of the camera:
It was not only those present and the audience of the live stream online who wondered what the Chancellor could have done. The country has been discussing the transfer of German precision missiles to Ukraine for more than nine months. The chancellor remained silent on the subject for a long time, until he recently publicly presented reasons why he had decided to deliver the Taurus.
Essentially, Scholz is about maintaining control over the targeting of the cruise missile, which can fly more than 500 kilometers and therefore – in theory – all the way to Moscow. To maintain control, the participation of German soldiers would be necessary and therefore the delivery of the Taurus was ruled out. “That is a line that I do not want to cross as Chancellor,” Scholz repeated his no on Wednesday.
Scholz was accused of not trusting Ukraine. The next day, in an ARD interview, Röttgen denied having any “special knowledge” and accused the Chancellor of using fear “as a means and instrument for his enforcement.”
But the reference to control by Germany is apparently only part of the truth. According to information from Watson media partner T-Online, there is another important factor that plays a role in the Taurus no.
By accusing Röttgen of possessing some form of secret knowledge, Scholz himself hinted at what it might be. This concerns information classified as secret and which has now been made available for the first time to selected members of the Bundestag.
According to information from T-Online, something crucial has happened in the Special meeting of the Defense Committee on Tuesday. In the first part, the committee members first questioned the summoned Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius about the air force wiretapping affair. A second, secret part was about Taurus, in which sensitive details about the Taurus cruise missile were shared for the first time with members of a specialized committee of the Bundestag.
The one that was also loaded Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, Carsten Breuergave a 20-minute presentation on the most important facts about the Taurus: In addition to operational capacity and numbers (the air force is estimated to have about 600 Taurus), Breuer is also said to have discussed the special risks of a delivery for German security interests.
A person familiar with the process told t-online that some MPs were left with their jaws dropping. “After Breuer’s lecture it was initially quiet in the room. Even those who usually make loud demands had no more questions.” A committee member and Taurus supporter told T-Online after the meeting that he “had doubts for the first time” and wanted to reconsider his position on childbirth.
Also in the interview, that the defense policy spokesperson of the CDU/CSU, Florian Hahn, which was given by ARD after the meeting, something of this is palpable. Hahn, who likes to address the Chancellor with strong words on the Taurus issue, speaks calmly and differentiated, almost as if he has to rearrange his thoughts.
What did Breuer say?
The inspector general apparently informed lawmakers in detail that using the Taurus was more complicated than many previously thought. To use the cruise missile wisely, enormous amounts of data are needed.
It was already known that the target programming of the Taurus weapons is complicated. “Central Mission Planning” (ZMP), the technical and operational process for entering destinations and route guidance, consists of numerous different source data such as elevation points, vector data, satellite images and raster maps to enable the Taurus to create the most accurate flight path possible. The ZMP system was developed by the German company ESG, which was merged into the defense electronics company Hensoldt at the end of 2023.
This is not about gigabytes or terabytes, but about extremely large and complex amounts of data that obviously have to be processed by special technical systems. However, it is said that these technical systems only exist to a limited extent. If these were also transferred to Ukraine as part of a Taurus delivery, they would no longer be available to the Bundeswehr. It would create a capability gap that would seriously affect the “operational capacity of the German armed forces,” a person familiar with the matter said.
It is unclear what kind of systems these should be. Neither the Taurus manufacturer MBDA nor the federal Ministry of Defense would comment on this when asked. The question is also how many of these systems are available, how long it takes to replace them and why they are so difficult to obtain. This is a “technical bottleneck” that cannot be replaced for a long time, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. “If we provide this opportunity, it will no longer exist for us.”
The situation is not comparable to the delivery of the 18 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, which the army will have to wait until 2026 to replace. “The Taurus is one of our most powerful weapons in the air-ground domain, approaching strategic capabilities.”
It concerns “basic national security issues,” according to a person familiar with the matter. In Breuer’s lecture, parliamentarians were given a ‘price tag’ for the security of the Federal Republic, which all those involved must now be aware of.
The decisive factor here is of course how the Taurus is used: in its ‘stripped-down’ version with less data or in its intended form with all the extra features. If the Taurus uses all its advantages, it can fly low to a height of up to 15 meters, where it can better fly around or under enemy air defense positions.
However, it is said that these systems are necessary for this precise navigation using four different systems and modeling the route and exact destination (accurate to within a few meters).
The Taurus could be sent to Ukraine without any additional capability, including a shorter training period for Ukrainian soldiers. But then the Taurus would be intended more as a supply for the less powerful British Storm Shadow cruise missiles. Both variants are possible, with their respective advantages and disadvantages.
The Military expert Fabian Hoffmann At Taurus, a distinction is made between ‘simple’ and ‘extensive mission planning’. For the latter, an appropriate technical infrastructure must also be in place, says Hoffmann. This still allows training of Ukrainian soldiers on the system, but slows it down.
References to the complex mission planning and various applications of the Taurus can also be found in the leaked conversation between senior air force officers. A lieutenant colonel speaks of ‘target data that ideally comes from satellite images’ because this allows the highest accuracy, namely below three meters, to be achieved. “The [Zieldaten] We have to incorporate it into the first set in Büchel, where the air force has an air base.
Elsewhere, the officer explains that the computing time for modeling doubles to 12 hours with the input of more accurate satellite data, and that this requires a data line “that can do this”.
The information provided to MPs on Tuesday had little visible impact on the subsequent debate in the Bundestag and the vote on the Union motion.
However, they may shed more light on the chancellor’s calculations as to why he is clinging to his veto. For example, when it comes to the worst-case scenario: if Scholz transfers part of the Taurus and its technical equipment to Ukraine and it loses the war, Russia could find itself on the NATO border in Western Ukraine, while Germany has a military nuclear capability . A ‘lose-lose’ situation.
As a result, Germany would be even weaker militarily than before. The chancellor would be responsible for this. Since the Taurus systems, as is now being emphasized from all sides, are not game changers, but would only bring tactical advantages, Scholz might think: why supply a weapon that is not decisive for the war for Ukraine, but for Germany is a huge step forward? impairment of deterrent capacity?
Ultimately it remains a political issue. The hurdles to delivery could be eliminated. Germany could also send the ‘premium version’ of the Taurus to Ukraine and accept the risk to its own security. The CDU/CSU, the Greens and the FDP, who also took part in the aforementioned committee meeting, are apparently prepared to accept this risk.
If you follow the argument of the strongest Taurus supporters, this also makes sense: if the position is that Ukraine is also defending German security against the Russians, giving up a nuclear military capability may be justified.
The Chancellor ruled differently. Scholz does this, as he always emphasizes, by pointing out that he took the oath of office as Chancellor to ensure the security of the Federal Republic of Germany. The fact that he is doing this purely for domestic political reasons, as many of his critics accuse him, seems questionable in light of the information that has now emerged.
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
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