Rüstungsprojekte: Deutsches Heer soll Marschflugkörper bekommen

German military chief Christian Freuding plans to equip his troops with low-cost cruise missiles for mass deployment. The decision to procure so-called low-cost cruise missiles was made, said the general lieutenant at the Parliamentary Evening of the Army Support Circle in Berlin. "We will be able to neutralize targets at a depth of about 1,500 kilometers, saturate opposing missile defense systems," he said in the script provided to Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

Especially in combination with conventional cruise missiles, this can complement each other. Freuding spoke of saturation - overwhelming - the opposing missile defense and "high-quality means for strategically important targets." It is therefore right from the perspective of ground forces to also categorize US cruise missiles as part of the army.

The federal government wants to purchase these high-quality weapon systems from the United States. The army is considering two market-available systems for purchase. Two market-available systems are currently in focus. Both would need to be qualified for the Bundeswehr. "A first allotment from 2027 is conceivable, and we want to achieve this," Freuding explained.

The US defense company Covenant opened its production facility for missile systems in Leipzig at the beginning of the week. Production of the Anthem system is scheduled to begin in 2027. Covenant plans to build 1,000 units in the first year and 5,000 in 2028. The company claims that the Anthem system will cost significantly less than currently available systems on the market, costing less than a million US dollars, whereas other weapon systems of this type typically cost several million US dollars per unit.