00:00A new U.S. defense startup founded just two years ago wants to produce up to 5,000 long-range
00:06cruise missiles a year here in Germany.
00:09The missile is called Anthem, and its creators say it could be a game-changer because it's designed for mass
00:15production at a much lower cost than comparable weapons.
00:19At a time when Europe is rethinking how it deters Russia and replenishes its arsenals, Germany could become a key
00:25manufacturing hub.
00:26The U.S. firm Covenant is now planning to start producing the missile in the East German city of Leipzig
00:32as soon as next year.
00:34Covenant already put the missile through an important test in August, carrying out a live-fire launch at a military
00:40testing range in Morocco, alongside U.S. Army and Moroccan forces.
00:45They wanted to see how the missile's launch systems and communications performed in realistic conditions.
00:51The company says Anthem has now logged more than 200 test flights, including several conducted with the U.S. Army,
00:58both at home and abroad.
01:00Let's look at what we know about this weapon.
01:03Anthem's reported range is up to 1,500 kilometers, potentially allowing it to strike targets deep inside enemy territory.
01:11Covenant says each missile could cost less than $1 million, a fraction of the price of many comparable systems.
01:18The company targets an output of 5,000 missiles every year in each of their factories.
01:25Thomas Wiegolt is a journalist focusing on international defense and security affairs and the German armed forces.
01:31Thomas, thanks for joining me.
01:34So a new U.S. startup wants to produce up to 5,000 long-range cruise missiles a year in
01:39eastern Germany.
01:40Why is this announcement significant?
01:43Well, it's significant because other competitors are so far not able to produce that many weapons in this time frame.
01:54We are in a situation where everybody, the U.S., but also the Europeans, want long-range strike capabilities.
02:03And the weapon that comes to mind first, the U.S.-made tomahawk, is not available anymore in large numbers,
02:11mainly because the U.S. has used a lot of it in the war against Iran.
02:17So replacing the U.S. tomahawks will take time, and then the Convenient and its Anthem cruise missile comes just
02:27handy.
02:28And what's different about this specific missile?
02:31Is it just the smaller price tag, or does it have other special characteristics?
02:36Well, it's a mixture.
02:38It's a low-cost, mass-produced cruise missile, and that's the main difference.
02:44The tomahawk, you mentioned it, is much more expensive.
02:48It might have a longer reach, except figures are not public for a good reason.
02:57So the tomahawk might have a longer reach.
02:59It has a larger warhead, but still it's much more expensive, and it's available in much lower numbers.
03:08That means if you want to rely on these type of cruise missile on long-range precision strikes for deterrence
03:19against Russia in Europe,
03:21you will look for everything which is available, and the Anthem is an answer to that.
03:28Now, a media report suggests that Germany's Bundeswehr is also interested potentially in buying the Anthem cruise missiles.
03:36What use might Germany have for them?
03:39Well, Germany probably will be interested, and it might be pretty well the first customer.
03:48Germany, as well as other European countries, are trying to build up their own long-range strike capability.
03:55They have started an initiative for that.
03:58It's called ELSA, the European Long-Range Strike Approach.
04:02But the development of own European missiles and cruise missiles will take time.
04:10So, again, Anthem will be the low-cost showstopper replacing or giving the possibility to upgrade the arsenals of European
04:22forces.
04:24And, you know, just a few years ago, producing thousands of long-range missiles in Germany would have been politically
04:30really difficult to imagine.
04:32What's changed in the meantime?
04:35Well, we have this war against Ukraine.
04:38We have the perception of a Russian threat for NATO in Europe, and this has changed everything.
04:47So, Europeans and Germany especially are thinking about possible deterrence against a possible Russian attack.
04:56Germany, for one, does not have any nuclear weapons.
05:02Germany has obliged itself not to procure and not to deploy nuclear weapons.
05:09So, conventional deterrence, which means cruise missiles and similar, are the way to go.
05:15And we have seen here in Germany, locally, some protests across the country where new weapons production facilities have been
05:23set up or are being set up.
05:25How much acceptance is there here among the population for increased weapons production?
05:31There is much more acceptance than has been years ago.
05:36However, it depends on the region.
05:39It depends on the city.
05:41We have seen certain places, certain regions where there has been protests against new armament factories.
05:49For instance, in Görlitz, far in the east, where a former railway wagon factory has been refurbished to produce armoured
06:00vehicles.
06:01So, it remains to be seen what will happen in Leipzig if there will be any protests against this kind
06:08of factory.
06:09And if we look at Germany overall, weapons producers have seen their profits growing in the last few years, and
06:15domestic weapon production has also been increasing steadily.
06:19Now, could the defence industry drive Germany's economy going forward?
06:25Well, not really.
06:27The defence industry has grown tremendously over the recent years.
06:33But still, if you compare it to the vehicle industry, to cars, it's still quite a significant difference.
06:42So, the idea of less car production in Germany, instead more defence, this will not work out.
06:53Now, if we take a bit of a broader look and look at Europe in general,
06:58Europe has been talking more about strategic autonomy and reducing vulnerabilities.
07:03Does manufacturing these missiles in Germany, even though it's a US company,
07:09does this meaningfully advance that goal of autonomy?
07:14Most probably, yes.
07:16One reason is that Covenant has announced that only 5% of the parts of this cruise missile will be
07:25sourced outside Europe,
07:27which, of course, is important not only for European autonomy,
07:32it's also important for times of crisis when supply chains might be interrupted.
07:39So, yes, this is part of European strategic ambitions.
07:44On the other hand, we've been seeing this in recent months, in recent years.
07:49There is talk about German production of Patriot interceptor missiles,
07:56which will start probably also next year.
07:59There had been talks about possible license production of Tomahawk cruise missiles.
08:04This is unclear at the moment, but there are quite a lot of ideas
08:10how Europe and Germany can be a bit more independent when it comes to these types of weapons.
08:19Thank you very much for unpacking all of that for us.
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