In Berlin, on 28 May 2025, the German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius signed an agreement with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov to finance Ukraine’s production of long-range weapon systems.
Germany will allocate around €5bn ($5.64bn) in military assistance to Ukraine as part of the agreement, with long-range weapons as the central focus of investment.
A deep strike capability remains a coveted effect as Ukraine’s forces seek to deprive the invading force of critical military infrastructure located deep inside Russian territory, including airstrips and munitions storage spaces. These vital military targets enable Russia to conduct persistent and indiscriminate strikes across Ukraine throughout the last three years.
Along with securing frequent troop rotations across the frontline, long-range strikes remain one of Ukraine’s key strategic objectives according to expert observers from the London-based Royal United Services Institute.
Ukraine has already developed an indigenous long-range weapon system known as Palianytsia. The weapon is a cruise missile-drone hybrid designed to strike deep inside Russia. The system is believed to have been used in strikes on Tikhoretsk and Toropets, around 300km and 500km inside Russian territory respectively.
A significant number of Ukraine’s long-range weapons systems are expected to be produced by 2025, according to the Bundeswehr.
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By GlobalData“The weapons systems will be quickly available to the Ukrainian armed forces—the first ones can be deployed in just a few weeks,” according to a German government release.
US components are problematic
During the talks in Germany, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it is important to continue defence cooperation within Europe, and between Europe and the United States.
However, Europe will need to strike a sensible balance in cooperating with the United States, as this has led to complications for Ukraine’s military operations in the past.
Throughout 2024, the US administration under former President Joe Biden repeatedly prohibited Ukraine from using deep strike weapons inside Russia out of fear of escalating the conflict. This included American-made ATACMS as well as European systems such as Storm Shadow which use US components.
After Europe’s loss of longstanding American security guarantees in a dramatic tirade delivered by the US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in February, there has been an uptick in collective defence investment across the continent.
The EU have their own objectives to increase their defence industry competitiveness, while European defence companies such as MBDA, a complex weapon systems manufacturer, have intimated that they are able to deliver fully sovereign systems when asked to do so by their customers.
Europe’s long-range efforts
Long-range weapons came to the fore on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Washington last year, where a group of European nations agreed to pursue a system together under the European long-range strike approach (ELSA), which would have a range of more than 1,000km.
Meanwhile, the UK Ministry of Defence has initiated an industrial competition for an indigenous long-range effector that can reach more than 500km under Project Brakestop.
In May 2025, the UK agreed to develop a long-range strike weapon that can reach up to 2,000km alongside Germany. The system is expected sometime in the 2030s. Notably, this capability will be designed as part of ELSA but this may not mean the UK is a firm participant of the programme or a joint partner – more detail will be revealed in due course.
