France's SCALP Move Puts Pressure on Germany to Unlock Missiles for Ukraine

France committed to sending new SCALP cruise missiles and hundreds of bombs to Ukraine, ramping up pressure on Berlin to provide the long-range Taurus missiles Ukraine has long asked for, but failed to receive, in aid packages from Germany.

"We are going to deliver a lot more equipment and help Ukraine with what it needs to defend its skies," French President Emmanuel Macron told the media on Tuesday, according to Reuters, adding that he would travel to the war-torn country next month.

The U.K. and France pledged Storm Shadow and SCALP air-launched cruise missiles last year, boosting Ukraine's ability to carry out strikes on high-value Russian targets far behind the frontlines. France has sent around 50 of the SCALP missiles to date, according to Reuters.

The missiles are responsible for several high-profile successes for Ukraine. Kyiv used them to strike key Russian infrastructure in the annexed Crimean peninsula, and to damage Russia's Rostov-on-Don submarine and the Minsk landing ship in mid-September. In late December, Kyiv used cruise missiles to strike Russia's Novocherkassk landing ship in the eastern Crimean base of Feodosia. Ukrainian officials suggested Storm Shadow or SCALP missiles were responsible.

The additional SCALP missiles will increase the number of attacks Ukraine is able to launch on Russian assets. They are a "very nice addition to the Ukrainian arsenal," helping Kyiv deliver some powerful strikes, including in Crimea, said Frederik Mertens, an analyst with the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies.

Used well, "they will have an impact," but they are not enough "to wage a true air campaign," he told Newsweek.

France initially pledged SCALP missiles in July 2023, when pressure was mounting on the White House to give the go-ahead for providing its Army Tactical Missile Systems, also known as ATACMS. The long-range ATACMS were debuted by Ukraine in a blitz attack on Russian bases in October.

Paris' announcement comes as the calls within Germany grow louder for the provision of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. On Tuesday, German media outlet NTV reported that opposition leader Friedrich Merz would call for a Bundestag vote on sending the long-range missiles on Wednesday.

Berlin has refused to give Ukraine the air-launched Taurus cruise missiles that Kyiv requested back in May 2023. The missiles, which have a range in excess of 300 miles, are largely the same as Storm Shadow and SCALP, also made by missile manufacturer MBDA.

The German defense ministry told Newsweek earlier this month that there were no updates to share on Taurus missiles. The ministry was approached for comment by Newsweek on Wednesday.

"Ukraine needs more ammunition, more spare parts and the Taurus," Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the chair of the Bundestag's defense committee, told German media outlet t-online earlier this month. They should be delivered to Kyiv "immediately," she said.

"I don't understand why we are hesitating to deliver these and other weapons," Joachim Gauck, Germany's former president, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper in early January.

"The decision will certainly help add to the pressure already on Germany to supply Taurus missiles to Ukraine, but the French decision is unlikely to significantly alter the calculations of German politicians," argued William Freer, a research fellow with the U.K.-based Council on Geostrategy.

Germany is mainly concerned with its own stockpile of Taurus missiles, and that the long-range missiles would be used to strike the Kerch Bridge, he told Newsweek.

Shortly after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014, it built the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge. It is a key route for military supplies passing through the peninsula and for maintaining the Kremlin's war effort in southern Ukraine.

Targeting the Kerch Bridge

The Kerch Bridge has come under attack several times from Ukrainian long-range missiles. Experts have suggested that the Taurus missiles would be better suited to targeting infrastructure like bridges than its close relatives, the Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles.

"Ukraine's successes with Western-supplied long-range missiles, including SCALP and Storm Shadow, make a strong argument that more should be supplied," said weapons expert David Hambling.

"The missiles previously supplied have been used against valid targets, have made a real difference to Ukraine, and have not resulted in escalation," he told Newsweek. "It is hard to see why Germany is still hesitant to supply Ukraine with such missiles when its allies are all pitching in, and when visible support is sorely needed."

"Although the French decision certainly helps build the pressure, it will take direct political pressure — perhaps not only behind closed doors but also publicly — from allies across NATO to push Germany into changing its Taurus calculations," Freer said.

"If this brings the Germans closer to sending Taurus, all the better," Mertens added.

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