By Olivier Acuña Barba •
Revealed: 27 Apr 2025 • 19:28
• 2 minutes learn
USS Dewey conducts a Tomahawk cruise missile take a look at launch within the western Pacific | Photograph: Pentagon Press
The US State Division has formally authorised the sale of 175 Tomahawk Land Assault Missiles (TLAMs) and different heavy weapons programs value $2.19 billion (roughly 1.92 billion euros) to the Netherlands, the Pentagon reported.
The Protection Safety Cooperation Company (DSCA), an company inside the US Division of Protection, has submitted to the US Congress the required certification for the sale of navy tools geared toward enhancing the Royal Netherlands Navy’s precision strike capabilities, the Pentagon added.
The DSCA launched an official assertion on April twenty fifth, saying, “The Netherlands have requested to purchase as much as 163 Tomahawk Block V All Up Rounds (AURs); 12 Tomahawk Block IV AURs; 10 Tactical Tomahawk Weapons Management Programs (TTWCS); and as much as two Tomahawk Block IV telemetry missiles. “This proposed sale will assist the international coverage objectives and nationwide safety aims of the US by bettering the safety of a NATO Ally that could be a power for political stability and financial progress in Europe,” the company mentioned.
Guaranteeing navy steadiness within the area
The company defined that the sale of navy tools and the assist that comes with it is not going to alter the fundamental navy steadiness within the area. The Pentagon ensured that it might additionally not hurt US defence readiness.
Nonetheless, it would improve the Netherlands’ functionality to satisfy present and future threats by utilising long-range, standard surface-to-surface missiles with vital standoff vary that may neutralise rising threats, it added.
The sale follows the EU 800b defence plan
This buy by the Netherlands comes on the heels of a European Union announcement of an 800-billion-euro plan to beef up the area’s defences.
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen mentioned the huge “REARM Europe” package deal might be put to the 27 EU leaders, referring to an growing political uncertainty they understand from Washington, the place President Donald Trump questioned his alliance with the EU and Ukraine.
“I don’t want to explain the grave nature of the threats that we face,” von der Leyen mentioned.
“So, if member states would enhance their defence spending by 1.5 per cent of GDP on common, this might create fiscal house of near 650 billion euros over a interval of 4 years,” von der Leyen mentioned. The remaining 150 billion would come from loans and the joint EU price range.