US approves sale of Tomahawk missile to Germany, Merz says: Inside precision weapon used in Iran war | Today’s news
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that the United States had approved the sale of Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles to Germany, a major step to bolster the country’s defense capabilities.
President Donald Trump said 49 Tomahawk missiles were used to strike targets inside Iran as part of an operation during the war, according to Fox News.
According to AFP, in an interview with lawmakers, Merz said: “On the sidelines of the NATO meeting in Ankara, we agreed with the US government to buy US Tomahawk missiles and deploy them in Germany.”
He said the acquisition would boost Germany’s military preparedness, adding: “This move will ‘close an important strategic gap in our defence.’
Merz also emphasized that Europe will continue to invest in its own defense capabilities, saying: “At the same time, we will work to develop our own European systems and place them in Europe.
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The announcement comes after Merz indicated in May that the planned deployment of Tomahawk missiles to Germany, originally announced by former US President Joe Biden, may not go ahead. At the time, he attributed the uncertainty to depleted missile stocks caused by the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
What is a Tomahawk missile? History, design and more
The Tomahawk is a long-range subsonic cruise missile capable of operating in all weather conditions. Mainly used by the United States Navy and the Royal Navy, it is designed to conduct precision strikes against high value and heavily defended targets. The missile can be launched from both surface warships and submarines, while its terrain-following flight profile and sophisticated guidance systems allow it to evade enemy air defenses and precisely reach its target.
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The Tomahawk missile was conceived in the early 1970s during the Cold War as a weapon capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads. Originally developed by General Dynamics and later manufactured by Raytheon, it entered operational service in 1983.
The missile measures about 5.6 meters (18.4 ft) in length without booster and weighs up to 1,600 kg. It travels at a subsonic speed of around 880 km/h and flies at heights of up to 30-50 meters, which helps it avoid enemy radar. Depending on the variant, the Tomahawk has a range of more than 1,600 km. It can be equipped with unitary high-explosive warheads or cluster munitions, while older versions were capable of carrying nuclear warheads, which have since been decommissioned.
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Tomahawk combines several advanced navigation technologies to achieve highly accurate strikes. It uses GPS along with an Inertial Navigation System (INS) to maintain its flight path. For terminal guidance, the missile uses Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM), which compares terrain beneath stored digital maps, and Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC), which compares real-time ground images to pre-programmed reference images to pinpoint the target.
Newer variants are also equipped with two-way data links, allowing operators to update the missile’s path in flight, redirect it to another target, keep it in a holding pattern, or even abort the mission if desired.
The Tomahawk missile has been widely used in major military operations over the past three decades. During the 1991 Gulf War, the United States fired more than 280 Tomahawk missiles against Iraqi targets. In 1998, the missile was used in Operation Infinite Reach to strike suspected terrorist facilities in Sudan and Afghanistan.
Hundreds more were fired during the 2003 Iraq War as part of the inaugural “shock and awe” campaign to cripple Iraq’s military infrastructure. In 2011, Tomahawks played a key role in the NATO-led intervention in Libya by targeting and disabling the country’s air defense systems. In 2017, the United States fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at Syria’s Shayrat Air Base in response to a chemical weapons attack.
