There are no technical obstacles to providing Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles. This decision is purely political.
This was stated by German military expert, retired Lieutenant General Roland Kater, in a comment to the Ukrinform agency.
“The use of Taurus in Ukraine is a purely political decision, an issue that could be resolved immediately, but there is still no consensus in the federal government,” he noted.
According to the expert, all statements about any technical or organizational difficulties in the transfer of missiles are excuses. Kater countered that the Taurus could only be launched from modern Western aircraft.
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At the same time, he agreed with the statement of the head of the German Ministry of Defense, Boris Pistorius, that these missiles “will not change the rules of the game” in a full-scale war in Ukraine.
“All this hype that is currently going on in Germany, that Taurus will become a gamechanger, that this is some kind of panacea… I honestly don’t think so,” the military expert emphasized.
He added that the American ATACMS long-range missiles, the French SCALP, the British Storm Shadow and the German Taurus basically have the same effect.
Roland Kater believes that the priority now is to create a reliable air defense system in Ukraine. Since the Russian Federation will probably try to intensify the “air war” and again hit critical infrastructure facilities, especially energy ones.
The expert called Germany's decision to concentrate specifically on the supply of air defense systems correct. According to him, Ukraine has already received three IRIS-T SLM systems, which even the Bundeswehr does not have, as well as the Patriot system (there will be another one soon).
At the same time, Kater admitted that Kyiv needs more weapons. The expert explained that the Bundeswehr does not have much equipment that it can transfer. However, Germany's defense industry is now operating at full capacity.
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“They work in the production of ammunition for Ukraine around the clock in three shifts,” noted a retired lieutenant general who visited weapons factories.
He agreed with the conclusions of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny that “we are dealing with the decisive phase of the war.” According to Kater, Zaluzhny meant that before it could come to trench warfare and weather conditions worsened, everything possible must be done to achieve decisive advantages at the front and recapture as much territory as possible.
The military expert noted that this could create a good starting position for possible negotiations with the Russian Federation on equal terms (not necessarily with Putin). However, it is up to Ukraine to decide when the moment is right for such negotiations.
Kater stressed that Western allies, including Germany, must do everything possible to ensure that Ukraine achieves success at the front.
