Germany in talks with Covenant startup to buy Anthem cruise missile

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VIENNA — The German military is in talks with Covenant, a U.S.-Israeli, venture capital-backed startup, over its Anthem cruise missile, the country’s defense ministry said on Friday.

The weapon could presumably help close a gap quickly in Berlin’s long-range strike arsenal, meant to deter Russian aggression. That weapons portfolio is considered shaky, as a new version of the go-to air-launched Taurus cruise missile is years away from fielding, envisioned U.S. deliveries of Tomahawk cruise missiles are iffy after heavy use in the American-Israeli war against Iran, and a pan-European development effort, dubbed ELSA, is just getting off the ground.

A German Defense Ministry spokesperson declined to provide additional information about the state of negotiations with Covenant beyond saying they were ongoing, or about how the Anthem would fit into Bundeswehr planning. So far, Germany has put Lockheed Martin-made Typhon launchers front and center in the military’s envisioned ground-based strike ecosystem. The launchers can fire a variety of munitions of varying ranges, including Tomahawks, which can fly more than 1,500 kilometers.

Anthem, too, is reportedly ground launched, though the company did not respond in time for publication on the details of its launch system.

Covenant claims the Anthem weapon is production-ready, and flight tests are taking place weekly. The company’s pitch is that it can produce missiles more cheaply than current standard systems. Reuters has previously reported a mid-six-figure target price per unit set by company executives during serial production. A current-generation Taurus missile costs $1 million or more.

The company was founded in 2024 and chose to operate in “stealth mode” for two years until the announcement this week. It employs 200 people, according to reporting by Reuters, and was recruiting for 29 positions, seven of them in Germany, at the time of writing.

According to the company’s website, “Anthem is built on local production lines so allied governments buy directly from an industrial base they can rely on.”

In local media, the facility in Germany has been identified as sitting in an industrial neighborhood on the north side of the Saxon city of Leipzig, near the major Leipzig-Halle Airport. Asked for specifics, the company declined to provide further information, saying only said it was leasing an existing building.

Serial production is set to begin in Germany at the beginning of 2027, according to a Berlin lobbying firm handling local media inquiries on behalf of Covenant. A spokesman there told Defense News in an email that “global customers” would receive Anthems “as early as 2026, but German-built Anthems will begin in Q1 2027,” short-hand for the first quarter of next year.

The company’s main facility is located in Grand Prairie, Texas. A third plant is in Israel.

Reuters had previously reported German production for an unnamed non-American recipient starting by the end of the year, citing company executives.

German online publication Tag24 has reported that the facility in Leipzig will not handle explosives, allowing it to operate under regulations as a metalworking plant rather than a munitions factory. Asked by Defense News, the company declined to provide further details about where propellant and warhead integration would take place for European-produced units, and whether this would be done within Germany or elsewhere.

Similarly, Covenant declined to provide any indication of who potential European buyers might be.

The announcement of the Leipzig-area facility comes at a politically sensitive time in east Germany, with the far-right alternative for Germany party winning majorities in local elections, most recently in the neighboring state of Saxony-Anhalt last weekend. The party, which is close with Russia and opposes support for Ukraine, is also the strongest political force in Saxony itself, where the Covenant facility is to be located.

In its public messaging, AfD has often billed itself as a party of peace. At the same time, the party advocates for a strong military and defense industry – as long as Russian interests are untouched.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Ulrich Siegmund, who led the AfD to victory in Saxony-Anhalt, said his party was not fundamentally opposed to arms makers.

“We do not demonize the production of military equipment across the board, because we will, of course, need the necessary auxiliary means for later remigration and deportation campaigns,” he said, using a political catchphrase favored by right-wing parties across Europe.

In Saxony-Anhalt, where Siegmund hopes to become governor following his election victory, a new facility by the Israeli company Elbit Systems has caused controversy and was the impetus for his remarks.

Local and regional AfD branches in Leipzig and Saxony have criticized the plans for the opening of the Covenant facility in their jurisdiction.