Covenant’s mission is straightforward yet ambitious: to produce low‑cost cruise missiles that retain the precision, range and reliability of far more expensive Western systems.
By Hezy Laing
Israel’s defense‑technology ecosystem has long been known for producing disruptive innovations, but few have generated as much anticipation as Covenant, a young start‑up founded in 2024 by former Israeli Air Force engineers and veterans of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Elbit Systems.
Covenant’s mission is straightforward yet ambitious: to produce low‑cost cruise missiles that retain the precision, range and reliability of far more expensive Western systems.
In a global defense market where the U.S. Tomahawk Block IV costs around $1.5 million per missile and the French SCALP EG approaches $900,000, Covenant’s projected price of $40,000–$70,000 represents a radical departure from traditional procurement economics.
The company’s prototype, developed in coordination with the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (MAFAT), is designed to deliver a 20–30 kilogram warhead, fly at high‑subsonic speeds, and strike targets at ranges between 150 and 300 kilometers.
Covenant’s engineers rely heavily on commercially available components, compact electro‑optical guidance units, and lightweight composite materials.
Several of the start‑up’s founders previously worked on Israel’s Delilah cruise‑missile program, giving Covenant access to decades of accumulated expertise in autonomous flight control, terminal‑phase guidance and low‑observable design.
The significance of Covenant’s work extends far beyond Israel’s borders.
Many armies—particularly in Eastern Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia—struggle to acquire precision‑strike capabilities because of prohibitive costs and limited inventories.
The war in Ukraine has underscored the importance of affordable long‑range strike weapons, with both Russia and Ukraine deploying thousands of cruise and loitering munitions since 2022.
NATO states have also faced shortages: the U.K. Ministry of Defence acknowledged in 2023 that its Storm Shadow stockpile had been “significantly depleted,” while Poland, Romania and the Baltic states have sought cheaper alternatives to supplement their arsenals.
Covenant’s approach lowers costs by using commercial off‑the‑shelf electronics, simplified airframes, and scalable manufacturing processes that avoid the specialized machining and exotic materials required for legacy missiles.
By reducing reliance on bespoke components and adopting modular design principles, Covenant can produce missiles at industrial scale without the financial burden associated with traditional defense‑industry supply chains.
This cost structure allows smaller militaries to field meaningful precision‑strike capabilities, enabling them to target command centers, air‑defense batteries, logistics hubs and naval assets without exhausting national budgets.
In doing so, Covenant may democratize access to precision warfare, reshaping the strategic landscape for nations previously priced out of cruise‑missile technology.
