LONDON, October 26. /TASS/. German authorities are expected to finalize a deal in the coming weeks to purchase the initial batch of Ukraine’s Bars cruise missiles, The Financial Times reported, citing sources.
According to the sources, the Bundeswehr could conduct technical tests of the missiles early next year. If the tests yield "satisfactory results," Germany could purchase hundreds more of these missiles, the newspaper writes. According to the newspaper, this would mark the first known purchase of an offensive weapon developed in Ukraine for the Bundeswehr’s own use.
According to the publication, the Bars is a jet-powered weapon with a range of up to 1,000 km and a payload of up to 105 kg, depending on the variant. While Ukrainians sometimes refer to it as a "drone missile", Germany calls it a low-cost cruise missile. In recent months, Bars missiles have been manufactured in Germany at a Ukrainian-German joint venture established as part of the Build with Ukraine program. Initially, this initiative was aimed at organizing the production of weapons for Ukraine abroad.