The article presented at the CIENS workshop by Andreas Lutsch, professor of intelligence analysis at the Federal University of Applied Administrative Sciences in Berlin, places the debate on long-range fire capabilities in Europe in a historical context.
Two announcements in July 2024 brought the use of these weapons back into the spotlight: one, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington—by the United States, Germany, France, Italy, and Poland—to introduce long-range conventional weapons in Europe, followed by the launch of the ELSA European Long-Range Strike Approach initiative, which sets the framework for European cooperation to produce long-range (beyond 500 km) ground-to-ground strike capabilities.
In his article, Andreas Lutsch looks back at the introduction of medium-range missiles within NATO and the military cooperation projects between France, Italy, and Germany in the late 1950s.
The discussion with the CIENS team and associate members that followed his presentation fueled reflections on the future of deterrence in Europe.
