Secret Missile Firm Covenant Unveils Long-Range Weapon System After Raising $250 Million

Covenant, a U.S.-based defense company founded by entrepreneur Michael Kaufman, has publicly revealed its long-range weapon system named Anthem. The company, which has operations in Israel and Germany, has secured $250 million in funding from investors including Palantir, Anduril, and Founders Fund. Anthem is described as a long-range, heavy-payload aerial munition designed to address the dwindling stockpiles and slow production rates of existing Western long-range missiles, such as the Tomahawk and Storm Shadow.

The company states that Anthem's development was prompted by the rapid depletion of precision long-range missiles in recent conflicts, which are being consumed faster than defense industries can replenish them. Covenant aims for large-scale production, potentially thousands per year, with an estimated cost of several hundred thousand dollars per unit. The system includes integrated solutions for storage, transport, launch, and reloading, along with software for mission planning and command and control.

Covenant has also announced agreements with the U.S. Department of Defense and has secured contracts worth approximately $70 million with the U.S. Navy for a maritime version of Anthem and for export adaptation. The company is expanding its workforce across the U.S., Germany, and Israel. It has inaugurated a new 10,000-square-meter factory in Dallas, Texas, adding to its existing facilities in Germany and a 3,000-square-meter R&D and production site in Israel.

Investors in Covenant include prominent figures and firms such as Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, 8VC, Lux Capital, Lightspeed, and Andreessen Horowitz's American Dynamism fund, which focuses on national security investments. David Olch, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, highlighted the need to rebuild Western long-range strike arsenals, stating that Covenant possesses the technological depth and rapid advancement capabilities to meet this challenge.

Michael Kaufman, CEO of Covenant, emphasized the need for substantial munition stockpiles and rapid replenishment capabilities to maintain deterrence, noting that Anthem is designed to strike targets beyond the reach of existing weapon systems. Kathleen Hicks, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense and now an advisor to Covenant, drew a parallel to the Pentagon's Replicator initiative, stressing the importance of scaling production for long-range, heavy-payload systems to meet operational demands.