2024-07-27 04:21:22
“The war in Ukraine has opened Pandora’s box,” says nuclear weapons expert Hans Kristensen. He refers to the fact that the United States, in order to strengthen the military arsenal of its allies, plans to deploy long-range missiles in Europe. These weapons raise concerns about the escalation of the conflict.
The US and its allies tested an SM-6 ballistic missile in Hawaii in April, hitting a target. | Video: Reuters
The United States will begin placing new long-range missiles in Germany in 2026. First temporarily, in the future they should be in the country permanently. These should be anti-aircraft cruise missiles SM-6, Tomahawk missiles or hypersonic missiles, which have a significantly longer range than the weapons with which Europe is currently armed.
Some European countries have decided to start developing new cruise missiles themselves. French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said that it was clearly “a segment we don’t have”. Poland, Germany and Italy agreed to the plan. They intend to involve other allies in the project. “The war in Ukraine shows that long-range missiles are essential for the defense of Europe,” Lecornu wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
According to experts, the aggression revealed Europe’s vulnerability in the event of direct Russian aggression. “These countries knew long-range weapons were important even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the aggression itself opened a Pandora’s box of further military action,” Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project, told Business Insider.
Long-range missiles can be of enormous operational and strategic importance, especially when used to strike enemy logistics and command centers. According to experts, their presence in the given countries is sufficiently threatening to deter a potential aggressor.
The problem is that these weapons systems pose a risk for the escalation of a given conflict. And that both by its presence and by its use itself. According to Kristensen, there is a “tit-for-tat” risk. “But on the other hand, the effort to develop these new weapons systems signals an important shift in thinking,” says Kristensen.
For decades, European states ignored the use of these weapons and limited defense spending. “Now, with fears of Russian aggression against NATO members and with no end to the war in Ukraine in sight, the wind is in the defense industry’s sails. It is up to them to convince Western leaders to invest in new weapons. They would show that they are doing something to stand up to Russia,” adds Kristensen.
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Spotlight Aktuálně.cz – Václav Němec | Video: Team Spotlight