Germany to purchase cruise missiles for mass battlefield use

The German army has decided to procure low-cost cruise missiles for mass deployment, army chief Christian Freuding said late on Thursday. 

"We will use them to engage targets at a depth of around 1,500 kilometres en masse and will be able to saturate enemy air defence systems," Freuding told a parliamentary evening hosted by the Army Supporters' Association in Berlin, according to a speech manuscript seen by dpa.

The lieutenant general said this capability would be particularly effective in combination with conventional cruise missiles.

Freuding cited the need for mass deployment to saturate enemy air defences, as well as "high-value weapons for targets of strategic importance." 

This is why it made sense from a land forces perspective to assign US cruise missiles to the army, he said. The government intends to purchase these high-value weapons systems in the United States.

Freuding named no specific candidates for the low-cost systems. Two systems on the market were currently under consideration, he said, although both would need to be qualified for use by the German Armed Forces, or Bundeswehr.

"An initial delivery from 2027 is therefore fundamentally possible, and we want to achieve that," Freuding said.

US defence company Covenant opened a production facility for cruise missiles in the eastern German city of Leipzig earlier this week. Production of its Anthem weapons system is set to begin in 2027, with the company planning to build 1,000 units in the first year and 5,000 in 2028.

Covenant says it intends to offer the Anthem at a significantly lower price than systems currently on the market - at a six-figure sum, meaning less than $1 million dollars, compared with the several million dollars per unit typically charged for comparable weapons systems.