Denmark has announced that it will be purchasing its first long-range precision missiles as Russia continues to carry out hostile actions against Europe.
The missiles are air-launched Joint Strike Missiles (JSM) made by Norway’s Kongsberg for the Nordic country’s F-35 stealth fighter jets and the ground-launched Anthem missile made by Covenant.
“The purpose of the acquisitions is to strengthen national and collective deterrence. These are weapons that are in demand by NATO and that contribute to Denmark's security,” Denmark’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday, adding that “they can both deter attacks from outside and strike back deep inside enemy territory if necessary.”
The JSM is a fifth-generation air-to-surface missile that fits in the internal weapons bays of the F-35A, allowing the aircraft to retain its stealth profile. The high-subsonic missile has a range of 350 kilometers and autonomous target recognition capabilities. It is in use by 15 other countries, including the United States, Germany, Norway, Romania, and Poland.
Covenant, which has operations in the US, Germany, and Israel, emerged from stealth last month. Covenant’s flagship system, Anthem, is built to deliver heavy payloads at extended ranges while remaining affordable enough to produce in large quantities. The company has disclosed relatively little about Anthem’s specific performance characteristics, including its precise range, payload, and unit cost.
According to the company, most of Anthem’s components are commercial‑off‑the‑shelf (COTS) parts, supported by long‑term agreements for critical parts. Covenant says this approach allows the missile to be produced quickly and reliably, even during wartime, by drawing on supply chains across allied nations.
“Covenant Industries is proud to partner with Denmark as it moves with urgency to strengthen European defense and NATO’s collective security. As a global defense company with a growing European industrial footprint, Covenant is committed to delivering affordable, long-range precision strike capabilities at scale. This agreement, signed through our German company, represents an important step in our commitment to producing Anthem in Europe, for Europe, supported by a sovereign European supply chain,” Abby Denburg, its president and CGO told Defense & Tech by The Jerusalem Post.
Denmark’s Minister Defense Jeppe Bruus said that “the acquisitions are a significant step toward making Denmark better able to defend itself, strengthening NATO, and increasing our ability to strike back.”
Last year, Denmark said that it would be spending 58 billion Danish crowns ($9.20 billion) on European-made air defense systems, its largest arms purchase ever. A week later, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made the announcement that it would be purchasing long-range precision missiles because the country “must be able to credibly deter attacks on Denmark and NATO, and it is not enough to just have strong air defenses.”
Reuters reported that the Russian embassy in Copenhagen said that Denmark's missile policy aims at confrontation with Moscow and warned of "inevitable disastrous consequences.”
"Copenhagen is enthralled by the dangerous illusions that purchasing offensive high-precision long-range weapons to pose a military threat to a nuclear power will help strengthen Denmark's security and defense," the embassy said.