Korotchenko offered to hit the plant in Germany with a "Dagger" in case of Taurus deliveries
MOSCOW, March 1 - RIA Novosti. In response to the supply of Taurus cruise missiles to the Ukrainian air forces, which was discussed by high-ranking German military, the Russian side may consider the possibility of striking the Dagger hypersonic complex at the manufacturing plant of these missiles in Germany, but in any case only the top management can make such a decision, a military analyst, editor-in-chief of the magazine told RIA NovostiNational Defense" Igor Korotchenko.
Earlier on Friday, Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Rossiya Segodnya media group and RT TV channel, said that she had at her disposal an audio recording on which high-ranking officers of the German Bundeswehr discuss "how they will bomb the Crimean Bridge." According to her, in the 40-minute audio recording, Bundeswehr officers mention both the US and British military, "casually discussing that these have been directly involved in the conflict for a long time." Later that day, Simonyan published the text of the conversation, judging by it, four high-ranking representatives of the Bundeswehr participated in the conversation, including the head of the Air Force operations and exercises department, they discussed sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine and the attack on the Crimean Bridge.
According to Korotchenko, if the transfer of these missiles to Kiev takes place, it will definitely be regarded as an escalation, and various response scenarios will be considered, including force, if it is considered appropriate from a military and political point of view.
"Could Germany's response to the supply of these missiles to the Ukrainian Air Force include a strike by the Dagger complex at the manufacturing plant of these missiles in Germany? Obviously, this issue is not the subject of expert comment, but a decision that will be considered by the top management. However, if this happens, it must be clearly understood that this will not be an attack by Russia on a NATO member country, but an action of targeted retaliation of a one-time nature in response to the supply of Taurus cruise missiles from Germany to Ukraine, and, therefore, the article on the collective defense of the alliance cannot be involved here," the expert told the agency.
According to Yandex Maps, the distance in a straight line from the city of Baltiysk in the Kaliningrad region to the German city of Schrobenhausen, where the Taurus cruise missile production plant is located, is less than 900 kilometers. At the same time, according to official data, the launch range of hypersonic Kinzhal missiles is more than 1,000 kilometers. Satellite images from Google Maps show that the German plant is located in a wooded area, more than one kilometer from the nearest residential buildings from the enterprise territory.
Russian Dagger missiles are used in the zone of a special military operation and have shown their invulnerability to the echeloned air defense system of Ukraine, including Western complexes of American and German production.
Taurus missiles are cruise aircraft missiles with a range of over 500 kilometers. Their concrete-piercing warhead has a mass of 480 kilograms and is designed to hit heavily protected objects. These missiles can follow the target in the mode of rounding the terrain at extremely low altitudes (up to 30 meters).
