Denmark will acquire two long-range precision strike missiles, the ground-launched Anthem cruise missile from U.S. startup Covenant and Kongsberg’s Joint Strike Missile (JSM) for its F-35A fighters, Defense Minister Jeppe Bruus announced on October 22, 2026. The Danish Ministry of Defence did not disclose quantities, contract values, or delivery dates.
The selections implement a political decision taken in September 2025 to give the Danish armed forces weapons able to hit targets deep inside an adversary’s territory, a qualitatively new capability for the country. According to the ministry, both systems were chosen on the recommendation of the Chief of Defence and respond to capabilities requested by NATO; Copenhagen has committed to offering the alliance a long-range strike capability by 2030. “The acquisitions are a significant step toward making Denmark better able to defend itself and to carry our share of the burden in NATO, and at the same time we are sending a strong signal that we have the ability to strike back,” Bruus said.
Anthem Cruise Missile: Low-Cost Mass Production From Leipzig
Anthem is the less conventional choice. Covenant, a U.S. company founded in 2024 by Michael Kaufman and Ofir Dayan with a research and manufacturing site in northern Israel, emerged from stealth only in September 2026 with more than $250 million in funding.
According to The War Zone (TWZ), a solid rocket motor boosts the missile off its launcher before an underslung heavy-fuel jet engine takes over for cruise flight. Covenant says Anthem carries a payload of more than 200 kg, first flew in August 2025 and has since completed more than 200 test flights; it has never been used in combat. Covenant has not published Anthem’s range, dimensions, guidance architecture, or launcher configuration. Unconfirmed press reports put the range at roughly 1,200 km, which would give Danish ground units more than three times the published reach of the JSM.
Cost is the core of the pitch. Covenant targets a mid-six-figure unit price at full-rate production, a fraction of the roughly $2 million commonly cited for a Tomahawk. Danish rounds will come from the company’s new plant near Leipzig, in Saxony, where serial production is due to start in early 2027 at about 1,000 missiles in the first year before ramping toward 5,000 per year. Covenant says less than 5 percent of the Leipzig line’s bill of materials will come from outside Europe, and Bruus stressed that Denmark’s missiles will be sourced from that European supply chain.
Joint Strike Missile Brings Stealthy Standoff Strike to Danish F-35s
The JSM is the lower-risk half of the package. Developed by Kongsberg with Raytheon from the Naval Strike Missile (NSM), the high-subsonic weapon is 4.00 m long and weighs 416 kg, according to the manufacturer, which lists its range at more than 350 km. It was designed to fit inside the F-35A’s internal weapons bay, preserving the aircraft’s low-observable profile; publicly available specifications indicate two rounds can be carried internally. Midcourse navigation combines inertial, GPS, and terrain-reference inputs, while an imaging infrared seeker with automatic target recognition handles the terminal phase against land and sea targets, including in GPS-denied environments. A two-way datalink allows in-flight updates.
Denmark joins Norway, Japan, Australia, the United States, Germany, and Canada among nations that have selected the JSM. The weapon will arm a growing Royal Danish Air Force fleet: Copenhagen ordered 27 F-35As in 2016 and added 16 more in October 2025, for a planned total of 43 aircraft by around 2030. The choice also aligns with the Royal Danish Navy, which has ordered the closely related NSM for its frigates, keeping both services with the same supplier and missile family.
Analysis: The split buy hedges two distinct risks. The JSM is a production weapon already being delivered to F-35A operators, though its operational use on the aircraft depends on the delayed Block 4 software upgrade. Once cleared, it can penetrate defended airspace from a stealth platform, but its range keeps the launching aircraft relatively close to the threat. Anthem promises longer reach from the ground and, if Covenant’s pricing holds, a magazine depth that a small country could not afford with legacy cruise missiles priced in the millions. It is also a bet on an unproven supplier and a production line that has yet to deliver. Buying a U.S.-designed missile built in Germany lets Copenhagen keep procurement in Europe without breaking with Washington, a balance several NATO allies are now trying to strike.
Contract values, quantities, delivery schedules, and basing all remain undisclosed. The first test for Anthem is whether the Leipzig line begins serial production in early 2027 as promised; Germany, which is in separate talks with Covenant, could become a second European customer and deepen that production base. Denmark’s 2030 commitment to NATO sets the deadline for both.