USS Dewey conducts a Tomahawk cruise missile test launch in the western Pacific | Photo: Pentagon Press
The US State Department has officially approved the sale of 175 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) and other heavy weapons systems worth $2.19 billion (approximately 1.92 billion euros) to the Netherlands, the Pentagon reported.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), an agency within the US Department of Defense, has submitted to the US Congress the required certification for the sale of military equipment aimed at enhancing the Royal Netherlands Navy’s precision strike capabilities, the Pentagon added.
The DSCA released an official statement on April 25th, saying, “The Netherlands have requested to buy up to 163 Tomahawk Block V All Up Rounds (AURs); 12 Tomahawk Block IV AURs; 10 Tactical Tomahawk Weapons Control Systems (TTWCS); and up to two Tomahawk Block IV telemetry missiles. “This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a NATO Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe,” the agency said.
Ensuring military balance in the region
The agency explained that the sale of military equipment and the support that comes with it will not alter the basic military balance in the region. The Pentagon ensured that it would also not harm US defence readiness.
However, it will enhance the Netherlands’ capability to meet current and future threats by utilising long-range, conventional surface-to-surface missiles with significant standoff range that can neutralise growing threats, it added.
The sale follows the EU 800b defence plan
This purchase by the Netherlands comes on the heels of a European Union announcement of an 800-billion-euro plan to beef up the region’s defences.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the massive “REARM Europe” package will be put to the 27 EU leaders, referring to an increasing political uncertainty they perceive from Washington, where President Donald Trump questioned his alliance with the EU and Ukraine.
“I do not need to describe the grave nature of the threats that we face,” von der Leyen said.
“So, if member states would increase their defence spending by 1.5 per cent of GDP on average, this could create fiscal space of close to 650 billion euros over a period of four years,” von der Leyen said. The remaining 150 billion would come from loans and the joint EU budget.
