Thomas Gottschild - CEO of the German branch of the European arms manufacturer MBDA - announced that the production of Taurus missiles is suspended. Taurus is a missile that Ukraine has repeatedly requested Germany to provide for use against Russia.
So far, about 600 Taurus missiles have been produced at a facility in Bavaria, but MBDA cannot produce more because it currently has no contracts with the German government, Thomas Gottschild said in an interview with Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper on March 30.
The CEO said that Taurus missile production lines are still available, so MBDA can increase missile deliveries at any time. He added: However, to do this, we need to have new orders.
He explained that the company could not stock up on missiles because that was banned under German law.
Mr. Gottschild emphasized that production stoppages are always a challenge for the defense industry. Our suppliers, mainly small and medium enterprises, often do not have the financial capacity to maintain production lines. So if we receive a new order for Taurus, our suppliers will first have to re- Localize themselves, such as ensuring the raw materials they need, he explained.
The CEO said the Taurus missile had a range of more than 500km and was very late detected by radar as it moved at low altitudes. Therefore, Taurus missiles are in high demand, especially in Ukraine.
However, Mr. Gottschild refused to answer the question of whether Kiev should be provided with missiles, calling it a "political decision" made by the German government.
Prime Minister Olaf Scholz has so far refused to supply Taurus missiles to Ukraine. In mid-March, he told the parliament that this is a very long-range weapon and could not have been used without the deployment of German soldiers.
The statement came just over a week after RT reporter Margarita Simonyan released a leaked recording in which senior German officers discussed the possibility of using Taurus missiles to target the Crimean bridge.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the leak " once again affirms the direct involvement of the so-called collective West in the Ukrainian conflict". Meanwhile, Russia's first Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky said the leak revealed "the new color of Germany is the Russian card".
German authorities have confirmed the authenticity of the recording but said Russia has taken the conversation off the scenes in an attempt to divide Ukraine's Western allies.
