Germany is in talks with Covenant over the startup’s Anthem cruise missile, the German Defense Ministry said Friday, bringing the recently revealed U.S.-Israeli company into consideration as Berlin examines options for expanding its long-range strike capabilities. Defense News reported that the ministry would not provide further details about the negotiations or explain how the weapon might fit into Bundeswehr planning.
The discussions come as Germany’s long-range strike portfolio faces several timing and supply uncertainties. A new version of the air-launched Taurus cruise missile is still years from entering service. Planned U.S. deliveries of Tomahawk missiles also face uncertainty after heavy use in the American-Israeli war against Iran. A separate European development effort known as ELSA remains at an early stage.
Germany has placed Lockheed Martin’s Typhon launchers at the center of its planned ground-based strike architecture. The launchers can fire different munitions at varying ranges, including Tomahawk missiles with a range of more than 1,500 kilometers. Anthem is also reportedly ground-launched, although details about its launch system have not been provided.
Covenant says Anthem is production-ready and that flight testing is taking place weekly. The company presents the missile as a lower-cost alternative to existing systems. Reuters previously reported that Covenant executives set a mid-six-figure target price for each missile during serial production, compared with a cost of $1 million or more for a current-generation Taurus.
Covenant was founded in 2024 and operated in what it called “stealth mode” for two years before announcing its activities this week. The company employs 200 people and was recruiting for 29 positions, including seven in Germany, at the time of the report. Its website says Anthem is built on local production lines so allied governments can buy directly from an industrial base they can rely on.
The company is establishing a German facility in an industrial area on the northern side of Leipzig, near Leipzig-Halle Airport. Covenant has said only that it is leasing an existing building and has declined to provide further details. A Berlin lobbying firm handling the company’s local media inquiries said German-built Anthems are expected to enter serial production in the first quarter of 2027, while global customers could receive missiles as early as 2026.
Covenant’s main facility is in Grand Prairie, Texas, and a third plant is in Israel. Tag24 reported that the Leipzig facility will not handle explosives and could therefore operate under regulations for a metalworking plant rather than a munitions factory. Covenant has not said where propellant and warhead integration for European-produced missiles would occur, or which European customers might receive them.
The planned Leipzig facility is politically sensitive because Covenant is setting up in Saxony, where the far-right Alternative for Germany is the strongest political force. Local and regional AfD branches in Leipzig and Saxony have criticized the plans. The facility would add a new missile producer to Germany’s defense-industrial landscape as the country considers how to strengthen its long-range strike options.