The American defense startup Covenant plans to begin mass production of low-cost cruise missiles in Germany in early 2027 to meet demand from European countries seeking to procure long-range weapons to counter the growing threat from Russia, UNN reports, citing Reuters.
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Covenant said that, at present, the company has signed one contract to supply its Anthem missile in Europe and is negotiating with other potential customers, but declined to specify which countries are involved. The first deliveries of this ground-launched missile are expected in early 2027.
"Our goal is to reach 5,000 units by 2028 or, at a minimum, achieve a production rate of 5,000 missiles per year during 2028," Covenant co-founder and CEO Michael Kaufman told Reuters in an interview, referring to the company's production facility.
Germany and the United Kingdom are developing a long-range missile with a range of more than 2,000 kilometers (which would allow it to reach Moscow), seeking to reduce their dependence on the United States in the defense sphere. Currently, the only long-range precision weapon Berlin possesses is the Taurus cruise missile; Germany's stockpile of these missiles amounts to approximately 600 units.
The publication notes that, amid declining trust among European countries in Washington and growing demands for the use of weapons that do not contain American components, Covenant said it procures most of the components for Anthem missiles assembled in Europe directly on the European continent.
"The supply chain (for the facility in Saxony) does not depend on the United States... Less than 5% of the components come from outside Europe, and our goal is to reduce this figure to zero," Kaufman said.
The media outlet adds that the Anthem missile could become a new option for countries seeking to expand their long-range weapons arsenals, which currently consist of a limited number of expensive missiles—a quantity considered insufficient to confront the enormous arsenals of a country such as Russia. According to Covenant, the Anthem missile not only addresses the need for mass deliveries but is also a more affordable option compared with weapons such as the Tomahawk manufactured by Raytheon (RTX.N): the cost of a single Tomahawk missile runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars (between $400,000 and $600,000).
The American defense giant Raytheon plans to increase Tomahawk production to 1,000 units per year; currently, annual output ranges from 60 to 90 missiles.
Covenant also said that the company is working on a sea-launched version of the Anthem missile; it will be equipped with a warhead weighing more than 200 kg and designed to strike targets both on land and at sea.
Covenant did not disclose Anthem's range, but said that the missile is ideally suited for use in the European theater of operations.
"To win a war or deter an adversary, it is necessary to have a sufficient arsenal and depth of resources to conduct combat operations... for many days, weeks, or even months," Abby Denburg, president and chief development officer of Covenant, told Reuters.
According to Kaufman's estimates, Germany and other European countries would need tens of thousands of long-range missiles to confront a distant adversary with a large territory.