Joint Strike Missile and Anthem: What Denmark Is Buying

Denmark has agreed to acquire its first long-range precision strike weapons, selecting the Kongsberg Joint Strike Missile for the Royal Danish Air Force’s F-35A fighters and the ground-launched Anthem cruise missile developed by the American start-up Covenant. The Danish Ministry of Defence announced the purchases on October 22, stating that both followed a recommendation from the Chief of Defence and that NATO had requested such weapons to strengthen the alliance’s collective deterrence. Defence Minister Jeppe Bruus declined to say how many missiles had been ordered, what they would cost or when they would be delivered. The decision is a significant departure for a country which has never before fielded long-range precision strike missiles, and reflects a wider European drive to build strike capabilities independent of the United States.

The purchases follow a decision in principle announced on September 17, 2025, by then Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, with the Chief of Defence having advised that lessons from the war in Ukraine showed air defences alone could not neutralise threats such as missile launchers before they fired. Denmark is expected under its NATO commitments to offer the alliance a long-range strike capability by 2030, according to the ministry. Bruus said the acquisitions were “a significant step towards making Denmark better able to defend itself,” while the Russian Embassy in Copenhagen responded with a written statement, reported by Reuters, accusing Denmark of seeking confrontation with Moscow and warning of disastrous consequences. The order comes only days after Copenhagen ordered more Naval Strike Missiles for its frigates, while neighbouring Finland is buying one million mines to harden its own border.

The Joint Strike Missile was derived by Kongsberg from the Naval Strike Missile and is designed to be carried inside the F-35A’s internal weapons bay, allowing the fighter to retain its low radar signature on strike missions. Norway, Japan, Australia, the United States and Germany have all ordered the missile, with Kongsberg having announced a further NOK 4.7 billion contract with an undisclosed sixth customer on June 30. Denmark ordered 27 F-35As as its first fifth generation fighters and agreed in October 2025 to acquire 16 more, which will raise the fleet to 43 aircraft, with the purchase coming as orders for the F-35 continue to grow across Europe and Asia. The F-35 will be the only Danish aircraft able to carry the new missile once its integration on the Danish fleet is complete.

Anthem is a considerably less mature design, having made its maiden flight only in August 2025 and never having been used in combat. Covenant, founded in 2024 with an Israeli subsidiary, emerged from stealth on September 9 stating that the missile carries a payload of more than 200 kilograms, while its range remains undisclosed and has been reported unofficially at around 1,200 kilometres. The company is targeting a unit price in the mid-six-figure range at full production, and announced in September a production site in Leipzig, Germany, where manufacturing is expected to begin in early 2027. The U.S. Army is testing the missile under an Other Transaction Agreement, though it is not a program of record, and Germany’s Ministry of Defence confirmed in September that it was negotiating with Covenant to help close its own long-range strike gap.