Iran’s repeated ballistic missile strikes across the Middle East have raised awareness of the weapon’s pivotal role in modern warfare, and questions about just how many the Europeans have in their arsenals.

With multiple wars on Europe’s periphery, EU countries are scrambling to develop their own capabilities, including by launching some joint initiatives. But Europe is still largely underprepared for modern warfare, and current long-range ballistic capabilities are limited to a few armies, mainly France and the United Kingdom.

A ballistic missile is a rocket-propelled weapon that flies at high altitude, reaching the edge of space to gain velocity for precise strikes over long distances. A similar objective can be achieved by so-called cruise missiles, which can be steered at low altitude to evade radar detection.

France owns a series of submarine-launched ballistic missiles – the Ariane Group-made M51 – as part of its nuclear arsenal, with a range of more than 8,000 km. The same company is also working on developing a 2,000 km land-launched missile.

London, meanwhile, also owns submarine-launched ballistic missiles, the US-made Trident D5, as part of its nuclear umbrella. The UK is currently developing a 500 km range ground-launched ballistic missiles – dubbed project Nightfall – to help Ukraine counter Russian strikes.

Greece, one of the EU countries that sits closest to Iran, has only developed an arsenal of short-range missiles. The Greek army operates short-range US-made MGM tactical surface-to-surface ballistic missiles. It also recently acquired Israeli-made LORA missiles, with a range of up to 400 km.

Greece was the first EU country to deploy military support to its neighbour Cyprus after repeated strikes from Teheran targeted British military bases on the Mediterranean island.

Future developments

Still, as Europe continues to ramp up its defences, missile development is rising higher on the agenda.

Germany and France are interested in acquiring a land-based ballistic missile, according to the aerospace company Ariane Group.

“People are trying to understand what is at stake with ballistic systems,” the company’s director of defence programmes, Vincent Pery, said a few weeks ago.

The European Long-Range Strike Approach (ELSA), a collaborative initiative launched in 2024, also aims to help Europe acquire the means to strike back at high velocity from space.

In July 2024, France, Germany, Italy and Poland initiated the project. Sweden, the UK and the Netherlands joined shortly after, as neither has ground-launched missiles capable of reaching farther than 300 kilometers.

However, the project has not yet yielded any results.

(cm)