Germany’s Pistorius teases boost to Ukraine's long-range strike capabilities

Wed, April 15, 2026 - 17:11

2 min

The two countries agreed to establish a joint venture

Germany’s Pistorius teases boost to Ukraine's long-range strike capabilities

Photo: Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)

Germany is strengthening Ukraine’s ability to carry out long-range strikes. This is made possible by the creation of a new joint venture, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

According to him, the IRIS-T air defense systems supplied to Ukraine by Germany will be supplemented by additional launchers.

The minister said that Germany was enhancing Ukraine’s capability to conduct strategic long-range strikes and would achieve this through German-Ukrainian defense cooperation and the establishment of another joint venture to develop and produce various types of medium- and long-range drones.

He added that Germany will allocate €300 million to purchase long-range drones produced in Ukraine.

Pistorius stressed that these measures were aimed at supporting Ukraine’s new defense concept, would help maintain and strengthen its momentum, and that Ukraine could continue its defensive fight only with joint support.

Large-scale defense package between Germany and Ukraine

On April 14, it became known that Ukraine and Germany had agreed on a large-scale €4 billion defense package.

Under the deal, Germany will provide Ukraine with hundreds of interceptor missiles for its air defense systems.

A joint production of mid-strike drones will also be launched.

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