German military eyes cruise missiles from Covenant, a surprise vendor setting up shop

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.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

维也纳——德国国防部周五表示，德国军方正在与一家名为 Covenant 的美国-以色列风险投资支持的初创公司就其“圣歌”（Anthem）巡航导弹进行谈判。

这种武器或许能迅速弥补柏林远程打击力量的不足，其目的是为了遏制俄罗斯的侵略。然而，柏林的远程打击力量组合被认为并不稳固：新型空射“金牛座”巡航导弹距离部署仍需数年时间；美国此前计划交付的“战斧”巡航导弹在美以对伊战争中被大量使用后，其交付前景不明；而名为“ELSA”的泛欧联合研发项目也才刚刚起步。

德国国防部发言人拒绝透露与C​​ovenant公司谈判的最新进展，仅表示谈判仍在进行中，也未说明“圣歌”（Anthem）导弹系统将如何融入德国联邦国防军的计划。目前，德国已将洛克希德·马丁公司制造的“台风”（Typhon）导弹发射器置于其设想的地面打击体系的核心位置。该发射器可发射多种不同射程的弹药，包括射程超过1500公里的“战斧”（Tomahawk）巡航导弹。

据报道，Anthem火箭也是地面发射的，但该公司尚未及时回应有关其发射系统细节的报道。

Covenant公司声称其“圣歌”（Anthem）导弹已做好量产准备，并每周进行飞行测试。该公司宣称，其导弹生产成本低于现有标准系统。路透社此前曾报道，该公司高管设定的批量生产目标单价为六位数美元左右。目前一枚“金牛座”（Taurus）导弹的售价在100万美元以上。

该公司成立于2024年，在本周正式宣布成立之前，一直保持“隐秘运营”状态。据路透社报道，该公司目前拥有200名员工，截至发稿时，正在招聘29个职位，其中7个职位在德国。

根据该公司网站的说法，“Anthem 采用本地生产线制造，因此盟国政府可以直接从他们可以信赖的工业基地购买产品。”

据当地媒体报道，这家位于德国的工厂坐落在萨克森州莱比锡市北部的一个工业区，靠近莱比锡-哈勒机场。当被问及具体细节时，该公司拒绝提供更多信息，仅表示正在租赁一栋现有建筑。

据一家代表Covenant公司处理当地媒体问询的柏林游说公司透露，Anthem导弹的批量生产将于2027年初在德国启动。该公司发言人在一封发给《防务新闻》的电子邮件中表示，“全球客户”最早将于2026年收到Anthem导弹，“但德国制造的Anthem导弹将于2027年第一季度开始生产”，这里“第一季度”指的是明年的第一季度。

该公司的主要生产基地位于德克萨斯州大草原城。第三家工厂位于以色列。

路透社此前曾援引公司高管的话报道称，德国将为一家未具名的非美国接收方生产产品，预计从今年年底开始。

德国在线媒体Tag24报道称，位于莱比锡的这家工厂不会处理爆炸物，因此可以按照金属加工厂而非军火工厂的法规运营。当《防务新闻》就欧洲生产的弹药推进剂和弹头集成将在何处进行，以及是在德国境内还是境外进行等问题向该公司询问时，该公司拒绝提供更多细节。

同样，Covenant 也拒绝透露潜在的欧洲买家是谁。

在德国东部政治局势高度敏感的时期，莱比锡地区设施的宣布显得尤为重要。极右翼政党“德国替代党”在地方选举中屡屡获胜，最近一次是在上周末邻近的萨克森-安哈尔特州。该党与俄罗斯关系密切，反对支持乌克兰，同时也是萨克森州最强大的政治力量，而“盟约”设施就将落户萨克森州。

德国选择党在公开宣传中经常标榜自己是和平党。与此同时，该党也主张发展强大的军队和国防工业——前提是俄罗斯的利益不受影响。

周四，带领德国选择党在萨克森-安哈尔特州赢得胜利的乌尔里希·西格蒙德在新闻发布会上表示，他的政党从根本上来说并不反对武器制造商。

“我们不会一概妖魔化军事装备的生产，因为我们当然需要必要的辅助手段来进行后续的遣返和驱逐行动，”他说道，并使用了欧洲各地右翼政党喜欢使用的政治口号。

西格蒙德希望在萨克森-安哈尔特州赢得选举后成为州长，但该州以色列公司埃尔比特系统公司新建的一家工厂引发了争议，这也是他发表上述言论的起因。

德国选择党在莱比锡和萨克森的地方和区域分支机构批评了在其管辖范围内开设“盟约”设施的计划。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。