BILD: Germany to Fund Production of Cruise Missiles in Ukraine with Range up to 2,500 km

Germany intends to allocate funding to Ukraine to develop and serially produce cruise missiles with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers.

The German media outlet Bild reported on this.

According to the report, the financial support amounts to millions of euros to bolster Ukraine’s defense industry.

Politico also reports that a new military aid package for Ukraine will be announced during today’s meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin.

The package, expected to be worth billions of euros, will include air defense systems, other weapons, and technical components to enable Ukraine to produce cruise missiles.

Details regarding the missile models and their components have not been disclosed. Establishing mass production of such long-range weapons will allow the Ukrainian Defense Forces to strike strategic targets deeper within Russian territory.

Long Neptune missile

In March, Zelensky announced that Ukraine had increased the range of its domestically produced Neptune cruise missile to 1,000 kilometers.

“Today, there were also reports on our missile program. We have achieved significant results. The new Ukrainian missile delivers a precise strike with a range of one thousand kilometers. I thank our Ukrainian developers, manufacturers, and military,” the President said.

It should be noted that the Defense Forces have been using the cruise missiles of the “Neptune” system for some time to strike important targets of the Russian occupiers.

In 2024, these cruise missiles hit ammunition depots both in temporarily occupied territories and within Russia. Additionally, fuel depots of the aggressor country have also been targeted.

The adaptation of the Neptune anti-ship missile for striking ground targets was first reported in April 2023. At that time, a representative of the Ukrainian defense ministry announced that engineers were working on modifying the missile to engage land-based targets.

The ‘Long Neptune’ can be launched from the same launcher as the original anti-ship version of the R-360 Neptune cruise missile. The missile has been equipped with a new guidance system and a satellite positioning system to control it during the cruise phase of flight. In the final stage of flight, guidance is carried out using an infrared homing system.