Start-up plans mass production: US defense company wants to build cruise missiles in Saxony

dpa | The US-Israeli arms company Covenant wants to set up extensive production of long-range cruise missiles in Saxony. "In the first year we will produce about 1,000 pieces and then ramp up to 5,000 pieces. That is our goal for annual production," said Covenant boss Abigail Denburg.

Production of the Anthem cruise missile is scheduled to begin next year in the Leipzig area for European customers. The company also has a factory in Dallas, Texas, to supply the US armed forces.

Anthem can carry a 200 kilogram warhead. The company does not comment on media reports that the range is 1,500 kilometers. Anthem is described as a weapon for precision strikes deep into enemy territory (“deep strike”).

The company wants to offer the weapon system significantly cheaper than systems currently available on the market. Covenant explains that Anthem will cost six figures, less than a million, while other weapon systems of this type typically cost several million dollars each. The weapon was reportedly tested in the United States and Morocco.

Mass production has military significance and is intended to make customers resilient. Denburg says: "Deterrence is a calculation by the enemy, and that calculation changes when you have extensive arsenals. If you can reach a target and attack once, that doesn't necessarily deter the enemy."

According to information from the German Press Agency, Covenant is already in talks with the Bundeswehr and the procurement authority, without this being officially confirmed. Denburg said - without a direct reference to Germany - that there is already a production contract for deliveries from Germany starting in the first quarter of 2027. "This European customer will decide for themselves when they want to announce this," she said.

Covenant was only founded in 2024 and is headquartered in Washington. The Leipzig location is ideal for a factory because there are excellent skilled workers there, according to the company.

According to its own information, the company has raised more than 250 million US dollars (215 million euros) from investors in three financing rounds. Among the donors is the Founders Found, of which Peter Thiel is one of the co-founders. He is known for his libertarian and right-wing conservative positions, his closeness to US President Donald Trump and his criticism of liberal democracies.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) had “explicitly” shared concerns about Thiel in the past. It was also discussed publicly whether new dependencies would arise or whether there would be a greater risk of being left without sufficiently filled ammunition depots in the event of a tension.

In Germany, the company says it has Lieutenant General retired. D. Andreas Marlow as consultant. He was deputy army inspector until 2025 and also headed the EU training mission for the Ukrainian armed forces from 2022. A long-range missile program produced in Europe is “the missing piece of the puzzle in our deterrence architecture,” Marlow is quoted as saying.

Germany and the European NATO allies are currently trying to procure and develop extensive weapons systems in response to the Russian threat. At the NATO summit in Ankara, the federal government agreed with the USA to purchase US Tomahawk cruise missiles.

At the beginning of September, the German Navy successfully completed a previously secret test of the Israeli Lora missile system - a ballistic missile. Germany itself already has the Taurus cruise missile from the defense company MBDA, but is still a long way from mass production.

The European NATO states do not currently have their own medium-range weapons. In the medium term, several allies want to procure their own weapon system for long-range precision attacks (“deep precision strikes”) on so-called high-value targets of an opponent. To this end, the Elsa (“European Long-Range Strike Approach”) project was initiated at the NATO summit in Washington in 2024.