Germany is preparing to add a Ukrainian-developed long-range strike system to its procurement pipeline as Berlin broadens its rearmament effort and looks for cheaper missile options, the Financial Times reported.

Axar.az informs, citing Traders Union, that an initial batch of Bars missiles is expected to be acquired for Bundeswehr trials in the coming weeks, with a larger follow-on order possible if tests are successful.

German authorities are expected to finalise a deal in the coming weeks to buy an initial batch of Bars missiles for testing by the Bundeswehr. The weapon, developed in Ukraine and now also produced in Germany through a Ukrainian-German joint venture, would be the first known offensive system created in Ukraine to be purchased for the German military's own use.

Bars, whose name means snow leopard in Ukrainian, is a jet-powered system with a range of up to 1,000km and a payload of up to 105kg, depending on the variant. While Ukrainians sometimes describe it as a drone missile, Germany classifies it as a low-cost cruise missile.

The initial purchase is intended to support technical trials early next year. If the system performs well, Germany could move to a larger order of several hundred units.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has identified Bars as one of the systems used to strike military bases and energy facilities inside Russia. Fabian Hoffmann, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, says the missile appears to be Ukraine's most mature low-cost cruise missile because it has been mass-produced and flown most extensively.