FLASH
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Game changer or pressure lever? Tomahawk missiles, a symbol of American power for decades, are back in the spotlight. This time, for their use in the Ukrainian war and specifically when President Zelensky claims they were sent by Washington.
The Ukrainian president wants to strengthen his arsenal with Tomahawk missiles so that he can attempt long-range deterrence, seeking to use them as a radical change.
At the same time, Donald Trump seems to want to use the missiles as leverage to end the war in Ukraine. He had used a similar strategy in the Middle East with the agreement between Israel and Hamas, where he pressured the Israeli prime minister to accept the first phase of a ceasefire.
However, Washington will have to balance the need to support Kiev and avoid direct confrontation with Moscow, as the Kremlin has already described the deployment of missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometers as a "red line."
Why do Ukrainians want Tomahawks?
Analyzing the missiles' capabilities, Volodymyr Zelensky seeks them, wanting to achieve a shift in Ukraine's strategy, from defense... to long-range selective interception.
"The balance on the field doesn't just change with armies; it changes when distances change," comments a Ukrainian defense analyst in the Kyiv Independent.
If the US decides to move forward, Kiev will gain a tool that could even change the outcome of the war.
But, as is often the case with war technology, the true power of the Tomahawks will not be measured solely in kilometers or kilograms of explosives, but in the political will to use them - and in the balances that will form around that use.
They could threaten Russia
This is not the first time Russia has faced Tomahawk missiles. The missiles were used to destroy Russian air defense targets in Syria in 2017 and 2018.
They use complex navigation systems, giving opponents only seconds to react after the missiles are detected by radar, he said. Intercepting them requires a dense network of low-level radars, rapid target identification and synchronized air defenses.
“Russian [defense] systems were covering Syrian targets at the time, but they failed [to shoot down the Tomahawks],” the expert said, adding that the missiles are “particularly effective when fired in bursts, as the overload of air defense systems increases their success rate.” The Russian S-400 or Pantsir systems, he said, are “weak against Tomahawks.”
The missile's long-range capabilities would allow Ukrainian forces to strike key military targets deep inside Russia, at a distance of up to 1,600 kilometers (about 1,000 miles), Defense Express editor-in-chief Oleh Katkov told DW. "Some Russian arms factories could be destroyed."
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also believes that Ukraine could use Tomahawk missiles to inflict significant damage or destroy key military facilities inside Russia, such as the drone factory in Yelabuga, Tatarstan, or the Engels-2 air base in Saratov, which Russia uses to launch bombers for large-scale attacks on Ukraine. ISW estimates that 1,600 to 2,000 Russian military targets could be within range of the Tomahawk missiles.
Tomahawks as a lever of pressure on Russia
"If the war (in Ukraine) doesn't end, I may send Tomahawk missiles," Donald Trump recently said in an attempt to bring Russia back to the negotiating table, according to Euronews analysis.
The Kremlin had already stressed that the US president's statement causes "extreme concern" in Russia, adding that the war is entering a "dramatic moment, given that tensions are escalating."
In addition, Putin had a phone call with Trump before Zelensky arrived at the White House to meet with the US president. This conversation led to the scheduling of Trump's meeting with the Ukrainian president.
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