During the NATO Summit in Washington, which ended a few hours ago, the Governments of the United States and Germany issued a joint statement announcing the US decision to deploy new missile systems in Germany from 2026 on.

The decision marks a renewed US commitment to the protection of the Old Continent, and it is a consequence of the War in Ukraine and Russian rearmament in this area. Initiatives triggering this upward spiral also include the deployment of anti-missile systems (AEGIS ASHORE) in Europe since early 2000s as part of a US initiative, then under NATO unmbrella. Such a move had a detrimental effect on the the INF Treaty for dismantling medium- and intermediate-range missiles in Europe and Russia.

The decision brings Europe back to the years of Euro-missiles, when NATO responded to Soviet SS-20s through the deployment of PERSHING-2 and TOMAHAWK missiles, pushed by Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi and German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.

Today, the US may deploy in Europe TYPHON batteries, equipped with SM-6 and TOMAHAWK missiles, or DARK EAGLE batteries, equipped with 8 (2x4) hypersonic missiles or, again, Precision Strike Missiles, which could be launched from both the tracked MLRS (4 missiles) and the wheeled HIMARS (2 missiles).

At the same time, the ELSA (European Long-Range Strike Approach) initiative was signed by France, Germany, Italy and Poland, for the development and production of a new long-range missile, which could be represented by the new Land Cruise Missile presented by MBDA at Eurosatory (a ground-based variant of the current SCALP NAVAL).