The United States has abandoned plans to deploy a battalion armed with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Germany, alongside a decision to pull 5,000 troops out of the country, its largest military base in Europe. The missile unit, agreed in 2024 by then-President Joe Biden and then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz and due to arrive by the end of this year, was seen in Berlin as a key element of deterrence against Russia.

A brigade out, a missile unit cancelled

The Pentagon announced on Friday, May 1, 2026, that it would cut its presence in Germany, currently close to 40,000 troops, by 5,000 within six to 12 months. One full brigade will leave, and the long-range fires battalion planned for later this year will not be deployed. The Pentagon did not say which bases would be affected or where the troops would go.

Christian Mölling of the EDINA think tank said the cancelled battalion matters more than the troop cut, because the United States holds a near-monopoly on long-range strike weapons within NATO. Europe is working to develop similar capabilities, but they are still years away.

Berlin: “We Europeans must take on more responsibility”

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius took the news in stride, saying the drawdown should push Europe to do more for its own defense. “We Europeans must take on more responsibility for our own security,” he said, adding that “Germany is on the right track.” Germany plans to expand its active-duty armed forces from 185,000 to 260,000 troops.

Elsewhere the reaction was sharper. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned of “the ongoing disintegration of our alliance,” while NATO said it was working with Washington to understand the details.

Trade and political tensions

The announcement followed President Donald Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on European car imports to 25 percent, and public friction with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who had questioned Washington’s exit strategy from the war with Iran. Peter Beyer, a foreign policy official in Merz’s CDU party, described the moves as a reaction born of frustration rather than a coherent strategy.

US bases in Germany, including Ramstein Air Base and the Landstuhl military hospital, have long supported American operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and the US presence in the country peaked during the Cold War.

Sources

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