In a recent announcement by both the US and German governments, it has been revealed that long-range missile systems will be stationed in Germany from 2026 onwards. These weapons, including the SM-6 and Tomahawk systems, were prohibited on the continent until Washington terminated a significant Cold War-era treaty in 2019. The decision follows discussions between American and German officials at NATO’s annual summit in Washington on Wednesday.
The joint statement released by the White House states that the US will “begin episodic deployments of the long-range fires capabilities of its Multi-Domain Task Force in Germany in 2026, as part of planning for enduring stationing of these capabilities in the future.” The weapons systems deployed to Germany will include the SM-6 anti-air missile, with a range of up to 460km (290 miles), and the Tomahawk cruise missile, which reportedly has the ability to strike targets over 2,500km away.
Furthermore, the White House confirms that developmental hypersonic weapons will also be stationed in Germany, noting that they will have a “significantly longer range than current land-based fires in Europe.” Although the US has not yet successfully fielded a hypersonic weapon and has canceled every hypersonic project since its first successful test in 2017, this development represents a shift in European missile defense.
Under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, land-launched missiles with a range between 500km and 5,500km were prohibited on European soil. Alongside the START-I and START-II agreements, the INF treaty played a crucial role in reducing nuclear tensions in Europe after both the West and the USSR narrowly avoided nuclear war during NATO’s Able Archer military exercise in 1983.
The US withdrew from the INF treaty in 2019, with the State Department accusing Russia of violating the agreement through its cruise missiles. Moscow denied these claims, and Russian President Vladimir Putin warned then-US President Donald Trump that the termination of the treaty would “have the gravest consequences.
Russia continued to abide by the INF treaty while imposing a moratorium on the development of prohibited missiles. However, earlier this month, Putin announced the resumption of development of such armaments, citing hostile actions from the US. The president explained that “We now know that the US is not only producing these missile systems, but has also brought them to Europe, Denmark, and even used them in exercises.
US and Danish forces trained with SM-6 missiles last September, while the Pentagon deployed its Typhon Weapon System – capable of firing both SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles – to the Philippines in April. As these developments unfold, it is evident that European security dynamics are undergoing significant changes, with the stationing of long-range missile systems marking a notable departure from the Cold War era treaties that sought to maintain peace and stability on the continent.