US defence startup to make missiles at new German plant

US defence startup Covenant said Wednesday it plans to start producing cruise missiles at a new factory in Germany from next year, as investment pours into the country's defence industry.

The long-range Anthem missiles, with a payload of 200 kilograms (441 pounds), will be manufactured in the eastern city of Leipzig.

The 10,000-square metre (108,000-square foot) site will be the group's largest missile production facility worldwide, Covenant said in a press release, without disclosing a value for the investment.

The ground-launched cruise missiles will also be manufactured at sites in the United States and Israel.

It is the latest investment in Germany's defence sector, which has boomed as European countries race to build up their militaries to contend with a hostile Russia and weakening US security commitments to the continent.

Production in Leipzig will begin with around 1,000 units per year, before increasing to 5,000 units, and create many jobs, the firm said, without giving further details.

Anthem is aimed at helping to plug a "capability gap within European armed forces in the field of long-range precision weapons," Covenant said.

Founded in 2024, the firm counts among its backers a venture capital firm belonging to Peter Thiel, a billionaire investor and ally of US President Donald Trump.

Arms manufacturing remains particularly controversial in Germany's former communist east, however, where scepticism towards military rearmament is generally stronger than in much of the west.

Last week several hundred people demonstrated in Leipzig against Covenant's plans to open a factory there.

kas/sr/ach

ANTHEM