Even under President Donald Trump, the US is sticking to its plans to station medium-range weapons such as the Tomahawk cruise missile in Germany from 2026.

"During my recent discussions in the USA, the commitment to station the unit with long-range weapons systems was once again clearly reaffirmed," Inspector General Carsten Breuer told the news magazine "Der Spiegel." Breuer recently met for the first time with General Dan Caine, the new Chief of Staff of the US Army since April. Germany and the US agreed on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington in July 2024 that the US Army would station conventional medium-range weapons such as the Tomahawk system in Germany for the first time since the end of the Cold War. The Tomahawks, with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers, are a "contribution to European deterrence," the agreement stated at the time. Russia has long stationed large numbers of medium- and long-range missiles, for example, in the Kaliningrad enclave, and can hit almost any target in Europe from there. After the change of administration in Washington, there were considerable doubts in Berlin as to whether President Trump would keep the promise made by his predecessor, Joe Biden.

The deployment of a US force with Tomahawk systems is intended to bridge the gap until the Bundeswehr itself has long-range weapons, which are being developed jointly with Great Britain. Breuer indicated that the Bundeswehr will need to procure corresponding systems in the short term. "We may need a commercially available variant to bridge the gap," he said. This is currently being discussed.