Israel eyes Covenant's low-cost Anthem cruise missile

Israel's Defense Ministry Director General, retired Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, has visited Covenant, the startup behind the Anthem low-cost cruise missile, in a tour the ministry said focused on strengthening Israel's munitions independence, expanding its production base and preserving the country's qualitative and technological edge in the years ahead. The ministry said on social media on Oct. 29 that the stop was part of a series of visits by Baram to leading defense companies under its strategy to strengthen Israel's defense-tech ecosystem, in which the ministry acts as the integrating body between the Israel Defense Forces and the defense industry. It did not announce an order or agreement with Covenant. "The Ministry's policy is to encourage and strengthen both defense-tech companies and new startups, as well as the established industries. This balance is essential for fostering healthy competition, driving innovation and out-of-the-box thinking, maintaining our qualitative edge, and developing 'the next surprises,'" said Baram. "We must look ahead to an intense security decade and adapt our plans to both global changes and the evolution of the battlefield. Defense exports are a critical growth engine and an enabling tool, not only for strengthening the economy, but also for building the IDF's force and delivering a critical mass of advanced systems to the warfighters on the front lines," he said. Covenant, founded in 2024 by Michael Kaufman and Ofir Dayan, kept its work secret until Sept. 9, when it unveiled Anthem and disclosed more than $250 million raised across three rounds led by Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Lux, 8VC, Aleph and Lightspeed, Tectonic reported. The company is headquartered in Washington and runs a research, development and production site in Israel alongside factories in Texas and Germany. Anthem is a ground-launched cruise missile that uses a solid rocket motor to get airborne and a jet engine burning heavy fuel for the cruise phase, and Covenant says it was designed from the start to be built in the thousands at a fraction of the cost of older systems such as the Tomahawk. The company has not disclosed the missile's price, range or exact payload. Since its first flight in August 2025, Anthem has completed more than 200 test flights, including several with U.S. forces in the United States and abroad, though it has not been used in combat. Anthem ground-launched cruise missile Covenant says it has booked about $150 million in orders covering qualification, development and production, along with a roughly $70 million cost-sharing agreement with the U.S. Navy's Rapid Capabilities Office to develop a maritime version of the missile. Earlier this month, Denmark said it would buy ground-launched Anthem missiles to be built in Leipzig, Germany, where Covenant's production line is due to open in 2027, while Germany's Defense Ministry is also in talks with the company as it evaluates low-cost cruise missiles. Baram's push for munitions independence, meaning Israel can build critical weapons and components without relying on foreign supply chains, has taken him to several manufacturers this year, including loitering munition maker Uvision in July. In August he met the heads of about 20 defense-tech and startup companies, and the ministry said then that the number of defense-tech firms under its oversight had grown to 322 since the start of the war, with its orders from them reaching about $330 million, roughly double the same period a year earlier.