Ukraine, at war due to the Russian invasion, has been imploring Germany for months to send Taurus cruise missiles, a powerful long-range weapon that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is reluctant to supply because he sees the risk of escalation in the confrontation with Vladimir. Putin. The Taurus appeared in the videoconference conversation of four German soldiers that was intercepted and published by the Russian state media RT, a case of espionage that is very embarrassing for the German army and government.
These missiles, present only in the Air Force of three countries – Germany, Spain and South Korea – have the technical capacity to hit targets on Russian soil, and that explains the reluctance of the German Government, which fears that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky , use them to attack Russian territory.
The Taurus KEPD-350, one of the most modern weapons of the German army, has a range of more than 500 kilometers and is fired from a fighter aircraft, so it is not necessary to enter enemy airspace to launch it. The Taurus knows its target before launch, and finds it autonomously after being fired.
Once detached from the plane, the Taurus flies at a speed of up to 1,170 kilometers per hour, self-propelled by a jet engine. Its small size – it measures 5 meters long and weighs almost 1.4 tons -, the fact that it flies at an altitude of only 35 meters – that is, below the radar – and its four independent navigation systems make it very difficult to intercept by anti-aircraft defense. This is what makes it known as stealth technology.
According to the Luftwafe (German Air Force), the Taurus is designed to hit “high-value objectives”, such as bunkers or command posts from which the enemy’s officers control and direct military operations, because it has the capacity to penetrate thick walls. of reinforced concrete.
To achieve this, the missile ascends abruptly just before reaching its target and hits it from above in a vertical dive. A first explosive charge destroys the roof and the missile then penetrates through that hole several floors down into a bunker before the 400-kilogram Mephisto warhead explodes at the final target.
Chancellor Scholz reiterated on Monday his refusal to supply Taurus to Kyiv, after it emerged that in the intercepted conversation – which took place on February 19 – the German Air Force soldiers discussed whether these missiles could reach “the bridge.” , presumably referring to the Kerch Bridge, a key infrastructure linking Russia with Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia ten years ago.
The Taurus of the Bundeswehr (German army) are designed for use with the Tornado fighter, a model built jointly by the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy since the late seventies, and with the Eurofighter, the combat aircraft developed by a European consortium in the which Spain also participates.
Ukraine already has a cruise missile relatively similar to the Taurus, manufactured by the European missile manufacturing consortium MBDA, and provided by the United Kingdom (which calls it Storm Shadow) and France (where it is called Scalp). The Ukrainian military is already using it, but it is manufactured in small quantities, which is why Zelensky wants the Taurus. Military analysts point out that Ukraine has so far not used these British and French missiles against Russian territory, so Scholz’s objection does not hold water.
