Germany to buy three US Himars rocket systems for Ukraine
Ukraine already has 39 Himars systems, which it has used with great success against Russian command posts and ammunition depots – JUNI KRISWANTO/AFP via Getty Images
Germany will buy three US Himars systems and transfer them to Ukraine, the defence minister announced during a visit to Washington.
“I can confirm that we will transfer three Himars rocket systems to Ukraine in cooperation with the Americans,” Boris Pistorius told reporters on Thursday. “They come from US armed forces’ stocks and will be paid by us.”
He went on to stress the importance of cooperation between the EU and the US on sending Ukraine the weapons and supplies it needs to repel Russian invaders.
Ukraine already possesses 39 Himars systems, which it has used with great success against Russian command posts and ammunition depots.
There is still no sign of the German government providing Kyiv with the Taurus, a powerful long-range missile system, which Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, said he could not hand over because it would lead to a huge escalation in tensions between Moscow and Berlin.
The Taurus would be capable, in Ukrainian hands, of striking targets deep inside Russia, including the Kremlin in Moscow.
It came as Mr Pistorius warned that Germany could be facing an “arms freeze” as soon as next year due to a lack of funding for the Bundeswehr in the Scholz government’s budget.
Speaking to broadcaster ZDF, Mr Pistorius said the German army needed significant further investment to make it a leading European defence force in the near future.
”[The problem is] money is needed to continue procurement for the Bundeswehr, or else next year and in the following years we will effectively be running into an arms freeze,” the German defence minister said.
“That would really not be a good sign for our allies, but also [not a good sign] with regard to our own defence capability.”
According to German media reports, Mr Pistorius has been lobbying the finance ministry to exempt the army from the country’s famous “debt brake”, which imposes strict limits on government borrowing and spending.
Officials in the defence ministry have drawn up a memo which argues that this would be legal, as maintaining a credible defence force – the Bundeswehr – is a constitutional requirement in Germany.
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