MBDA’s long-range Taurus missiles are currently not in production, halted due to German defense policy guidance that is considered inadequate by the factory’s leadership. This report comes from a major German daily, Spiegel, which cites sources close to the matter.
Thomas Gottschild, who leads MBDA Deutschland, says the Taurus program is pressing for quicker federal decisions on industrial orders. According to him, the supplier group behind the Taurus project is asking for more decisive government action to keep production aligned with demand and contractual commitments.
Gottschild notes that Taurus production has paused at this stage because the defense industry is not authorized to build up stocks of weapons without a confirmed order. The pause mirrors broader market realities in which production lines rely on explicit orders to justify ongoing manufacturing activity.
He describes the interruption as a significant challenge for the broader German defense supply chain. Many of the firms in the Taurus ecosystem are small and medium-sized enterprises, and a halt in production can ripple across the network, affecting employees and regional economies that depend on these contracts.
Meanwhile, Evgeniy Balitsky, governor of the Zaporozhye region, commented on the potential supply of German Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev. He argued that delivering these missiles would not decisively alter the course of the hostilities, emphasizing the strategic limits of such weapons in the ongoing conflict.
On March 19, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged the ongoing debate within Germany about long-range Taurus deliveries to Ukraine and highlighted the broader spectrum of military aid Berlin has already provided to Kyiv, noting that other forms of support remain active alongside discussions about Taurus missiles.
Earlier, former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder had remarked that his personal friendship with Vladimir Putin could influence the path to resolving the Ukraine conflict, a point that has been widely interpreted as part of the broader political discourse surrounding the war and Germany’s role in it.