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Destinus
European cruise missiles and interceptors built at volume

Destinus is a Dutch defense startup building jet-powered one-way-attack missiles and canister-launched drone interceptors. Its main customer so far has been Ukraine, and most of that demand has been paid for by European donors. The company makes its own turbojet, airframe, and navigation, and operates subsidiaries in Switzerland, Spain, France, Germany, the UK, Denmark, and Ukraine.

In the last two weeks, Destinus said it has built 1,750 Ruta cruise missiles, announced that Helsing is joining its funding round, and bought a radar-perception startup. Bloomberg reports that the round values the company at about €6 billion, ahead of a planned listing in Amsterdam.

Five years ago, Destinus was designing hydrogen-powered hypersonic jets. Now it says it builds missiles at a rate you’d expect from an established munitions maker. The harder questions are who is paying for them, and how much of the story shows up anywhere outside Destinus’s own announcements.

An IPO prospectus will have to answer both.

Below the Fold

  • What Destinus’s filed accounts and government contracts actually show, and how far they sit from the €6 billion

  • Why the engine, not the software, is what Rheinmetall and Helsing are lining up for

  • How Destinus stacks up against Anduril’s Barracuda, ERAM, Fire Point’s Flamingo, Coyote, and Roadrunner, spec by spec

  • The founder’s SEC settlement, and what it means for Destinus in the U.S.

  • Three things to watch before the listing

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