Pentagon poised to halt Tomahawks for Germany, exposing Europe’s strike gap

Key facts

• POLITICO: Pentagon expected to cancel plan to send/deploy Tomahawk missiles to Germany, partly over fears Russia will see escalation.
• US munitions constraints cited: thousands of Tomahawk and Patriot missiles reportedly used early in the Iran war; Hegseth says replenishment will take “months and years.”
• The reported reversal sits within broader US NATO posture changes, including a canceled 5,000-troop deployment to Germany and reported reductions in US fighters, drones, and naval units.

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The Pentagon is expected to cancel a plan to deploy Tomahawk cruise missiles to Germany, according to POLITICO, in a reversal driven by two interlocking concerns: the perceived escalatory signal to Moscow of placing US long-range precision strike in the centre of Europe, and the practical constraint of shrinking US munitions inventories. European and US officials cited by the report argue that Washington fears Russian retaliation if the Trump administration proceeds with the deployment, even as any cancellation would effectively pull back a Biden-era arrangement and deprive Berlin of a capability German leaders say is increasingly necessary for deterrence and defence planning.

The Tomahawk question is framed in the article as part of a wider US retrenchment from NATO posture in Europe. POLITICO notes the cancellation of a planned deployment of 5,000 US troops to Germany, and reports—via WELT—reductions in US fighter jets, drones and naval units. NATO’s top commander and head of US forces in Europe, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, is quoted urging Europe to “step up” as the United States “refocus[es]” forces and equipment elsewhere, signalling that allied conventional defence in Europe is increasingly expected to be carried primarily by Europeans.

Stockpile stress is presented as a second-order but potentially decisive factor. The report says the United States expended thousands of Tomahawk and Patriot missiles in the first weeks of the Iran war, and cites Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth telling Congress that replacing expended munitions will take “months and years.” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is quoted as expressing scepticism that the US could station Tomahawks in Germany because of limited availability, while Defence Minister Boris Pistorius describes an outstanding German request to purchase Tomahawks and a lack of optimism about near-term progress; Pistorius also expressed interest in the Typhon ground-based missile system that can launch Tomahawks.

For Europe, the operational implication is a widening near-term gap in land-based long-range precision strike and associated deterrence messaging, at a time when Russia has already normalised regional deployments of nuclear-capable Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad and medium-range Oreshnik missiles in Belarus. The report indicates Berlin is exploring European alternatives and a broader mix of options—off-the-shelf purchases, expanded production with allies, and longer-term European development—while acknowledging that drones and cheaper systems are not viewed by German planners as a one-for-one substitute for Tomahawk-class weapons. The procurement signal for European ministries and industry is that reliance on US forward deployments and US-origin munitions may be less bankable, raising the premium on European industrial capacity, scalable production lines, and accelerated fielding of conventional deep-strike capabilities.

Source: POLITICO