The Strategic Function of Long-Range Missiles
Deep precision strike and deterrence in the post-INF era
21 pages · PDF · 11 May 2026 · Licensed single-user copy, watermarked to the buyer
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About this report
The return of conventional long-range missiles is reshaping the strategic balance below the nuclear threshold. After the collapse of the INF Treaty, a category of weapons largely excluded from European force planning since 1987 has re-entered the centre of deterrence, crisis management and defence-industrial policy.
The issue is no longer confined to range or platform type. It concerns the capacity to hold adversary logistics, air bases, command systems, missile launchers, industrial nodes and critical infrastructure at risk without immediately crossing into nuclear escalation.
Key questions this report answers
- How is the post-INF return of conventional long-range strike reshaping deterrence below the nuclear threshold?
- What deep-precision-strike logics and residual legal architecture govern holding adversary logistics, bases and command systems at risk?
- How do production, stockpiles and the architectures of major and regional missile powers compare, with Ukraine as the deep-strike laboratory?
- What is Europe's industrial position (ELSA, Italy), and what are the strategic-stability and investment implications?
Inside this report
- The post-INF return of long-range conventional strike
- Deep precision strike, deterrence logics and the residual legal architecture
- Production, stockpiles and the architecture of the major powers
- Regional missile powers, crisis cases and Ukraine as the deep-strike laboratory
- Europe, ELSA and Italy’s industrial position
- Strategic stability, investment relevance and conclusions
- Open questions and limitations
Who it's for
Strategy, corporate-development and investment teams that need an ecosystem-level view — budgets, industrial capacity and technology landscapes — before committing capital or capacity.
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Methodology, format & delivery
DFM reports are built from primary and official sources — TED procurement notices, CORDIS and the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, EIB operations, the NATO Innovation Fund portfolio, SIPRI data, official budget documents and company disclosures — read together with the underlying legal texts. Sources are cited in the document; it reflects them as of its publication date (11 May 2026). You receive a 21-page PDF, watermarked to you on every page, delivered on the confirmation page and by e-mail immediately after checkout (personal link valid 72 hours, up to 5 downloads). Guest checkout, single-user licence — Terms of Sale.
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