The French-led European Long-Range Missile Strike Approach (ELSA) received a boost when the Netherlands announced its decision to join the initiative.
Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans announced on X: “To deter Russian aggression, European countries need long-range missiles. In Paris, I announce that the Netherlands also wants to participate in ELSA.” The defense minister also published images of himself signing on the initiative.
ELSA was established in July 2024 jointly by European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, and Poland, to create a sovereign capability aimed at enhancing “the defense of Europe and to strengthen the European defense industrial and technological base” and helping “strengthen the European pillar of the Alliance, for better sharing of the burden between Allies.”
The United Kingdom joined the initiative in October 2024, making it the fifth entrant. Announcing the decision to join ELSA, British Defense Secretary John Healey has said, “We are making a UK commitment to the long-range missile program, a formal commitment alongside France, Germany, Poland, and a couple of others.”
Sweden also announced its participation with Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson, signing a letter of intent in October this year. “The war in Ukraine has underscored the importance of long-range deep strike capabilities, not only for deterrence but also for preventing adversaries from launching attacks from beyond our defensive reach,” Jonson wrote on X.
ELSA (European Long-Range Strike Approach) envisages the development of land-based cruise missiles with a range of about 1,000–2,000 kilometers. Earlier, ground-launched missiles were prohibited from this range under the Cold War-era INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) Treaty. However, the treaty collapsed in 2019 after the US and Russia withdrew from it.
Some reports published earlier this month conjectured that if the ELSA initiative moves further into its implementation stage, MBDA, a well-known European defense firm, will probably take the lead in developing the technology. MBDA unveiled its Land Cruise Missile (LCM) system earlier this year, which is modeled after the French Navy’s battle-tested Naval Cruise Missile (NCM), which is deployed on surface ships and submarines. EurAsian Times can not confirm these claims independently.
Europe’s Missile Development Triggered By War
The ELSA initiative is gaining traction due to the return of conventional war to Europe, which was considered a thing of the past until Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Netherlands’ decision to join the ELSA also follows the Russian announcement that Moscow plans to place the latest RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system on combat duty.
However, the formalization of ELSA was triggered by European countries’ bitter realization that they do not possess independent, long-range strike capabilities to face off against foes like Russia.
This was also evident in the Dutch minister’s statement, emphasizing that “Europe needs long-range missiles.”
Cruise missiles, unlike ballistic missiles, fly low, making them harder to detect. Russia’s extensive use of ballistic and cruise missiles in the ongoing conflict has caused some European nations to reconsider the advantages of having conventional long-range strike capabilities of their own.
European countries have two options: one, manufacturing locally or in collaboration with other European countries, or two, purchasing from outside Europe, from countries like the United States. However, since Europe is strengthening its own collective security and local development, ELSA has become the more popular option.
Currently, Europe has 500-kilometer-range cruise missiles launched by fighter jets. These include the German Taurus, French Scalp, and British Storm Shadow.
The think tank, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), wrote in a previous article: “Although almost all ELSA participants already possess air, and in some cases, sea-launched cruise missiles, no European NATO member except for Turkiye possesses a conventional ground-launched missile with a range greater than 300 kilometers. The development of this capability would, therefore, fill what these countries perceive to be a capability gap where Russia has a distinct advantage.”
Moreover, Europe needs upgraded deep-strike capabilities because high-intensity combat has been structurally underfunded. The Allies have already been advised to resolve the significant artillery capability gaps with Russia, as highlighted by the NATO Defense Planning Process.
The Netherlands, for one, has been looking for long-range strike capability for quite some time, as became evident with its decision to purchase the 120 AGM-158B/B-2 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs) in February this year.
That said, the long-range missiles developed under the ELSA initiative are meant to serve as a deterrent against Russia. After signing the letter of intent in July, French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said, “The idea is to open it up as widely as possible. It has value, including on a budgetary level, because it also allows the various costs to be amortized.”
However, the initiative also appears to be aligned with Macron’s long-standing goal of creating a new European security framework, which ties into his recently launched European defense project. Macron has maintained since the invasion of Ukraine that potential future “neighborly relations” with Russia can only be permitted by a viable European defense.
Although unnamed European defense officials have stated that the goal is to create a ground-launched capability, the IISS noted that this is not specifically stated in the communiqué. This also became evident when the Swedish defense minister said that although Sweden does not currently prioritize ground-based strike options, the ELSA project may be applicable in the naval and aerial domains, which are Stockholm’s areas of greater interest.
Moreover, the IISS noted that the participants could also decide to build a ballistic missile. “Despite there being some possible flexibility as to what shape the ELSA project might take, the development of a cruise rather than a ballistic missile is likelier because of European defence-industrial firms’ significant experience in developing the former compared with the latter,” it noted.
The specifics of the program and what it would entail are not clear at this juncture, and more participants are expected to join before these details can be worked out. However, the Netherlands’ entry signals that a long-range European missile is likely to become a reality in the years to come.
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