Covenant, a defense startup founded in 2024 and supported by a group of prominent venture investors, on Wednesday revealed a ground-launched cruise missile it says combines a heavy payload, long range and the ability to be produced quickly at relatively low cost. The weapon, named Anthem, is intended to be manufactured at scale and deployed in large numbers alongside established long-range systems.
The company unveiled the missile after about two years of development. Covenant framed the timing as aligned with efforts by the United States and allied nations to replenish stocks of long-range precision-strike missiles, a requirement the company says has grown since supplies were drawn down during the war in Iran.
Anthem is a ground-launched cruise missile that carries a payload exceeding 200 kilograms (441 pounds). Covenant positions the weapon to be employed at high volumes in concert with other long-range systems, citing existing platforms such as the 1,000-mile Tomahawk cruise missile produced by RTX’s Raytheon unit and the 600-mile Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) from Lockheed Martin.
"Comparable weapons from the biggest defense contractors are being built in small quantities at really high prices. And so we set out to change that," Michael Kaufman, Covenant’s co-founder and CEO, told Reuters in an interview.
The startup said Anthem uses a solid rocket motor for initial takeoff and then transitions to a heavy-fuel jet engine for cruise flight. Covenant reported that the missile has been flight-tested more than 200 times over the past year.
Funding, workforce and production footprint
Covenant has raised just over $250 million from investors that include Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Lux, 8VC, Aleph and Lightspeed. The company now employs more than 200 people across the United States, Germany and Israel.
To support volume manufacturing, Covenant said it has avoided sole-source suppliers. The company has arranged for three solid-rocket-motor providers, with a fourth in development, and has secured long-term agreements for more than 4,000 jet engines over the next two years.
On the factory side, Covenant opened a 105,000-square-foot (9,754-square-meter) plant in Dallas on Wednesday, which it expects to reach full-rate production of 5,000 missiles per year. A similarly sized facility in Saxony, Germany, will also carry a 5,000-unit-per-year capacity, and a smaller site in northern Israel is slated to produce 2,000 units annually.
Customers, pricing and delivery timeline
The company is targeting a mid-six-figure price per missile once it achieves full-rate production. Covenant said it has already booked roughly $150 million in orders and anticipates beginning to generate revenue in 2027 as delivery schedules accelerate.
Executives said an international customer is due to begin taking delivery of German-built Anthems by the end of this year. U.S. Army deliveries are expected in 2027, according to company statements.
Operational intent and theater focus
Covenant executives described Anthem as being developed with the Pacific theater in mind. "We were designed for the China fight," Covenant President Abby Denburg said. Military planners have discussed employing ground-launched weapons from allied islands near China, including the Philippines, a span of roughly 2,000 miles that would allow strikes on Chinese targets without relying on manned aircraft or naval strike groups.
Obstacles acknowledged
The company acknowledged the well-known challenges for new defense firms attempting to displace established contractors. New entrants frequently face difficulty gaining traction with novel technologies and can encounter significant hurdles when delivering products in large quantities, Covenant said. To address those risks, the company emphasized supplier diversification and volume agreements for critical components.