The CEO of German defence prime Rheinmetall may have stepped out into the spotlight as an outspoken critic of Ukraine’s contributions to defence technology in recent weeks, but his company may be marching to the beat of a somewhat different drum — one that’s embracing the new wave of defence tech when Rheinmetall has a share of the action.
Today Rheinmetall announced a new joint venture with Destinus, the Netherlands-based defence tech, which will see the two working on a partnership for advanced missile system manufacturing.
Destinus has raised more than $400 million in funding to date, and it counts Ukraine (where it’s supplying drones to the military in the war against Russia) as a customer. However, scaling production of cutting-edge hardware remains a perennial challenge for startups in the field, especially as they push down the cost-per-system as a compelling selling point against “exquisite” (read: expensive, legacy) equipment.
This JV is another example of how defence techs are linking up with established primes to scale production and improve unit economics by leaning on companies with more established infrastructure, while the primes are happy to work with startups that are providing more cutting-edge R&D that becomes harder for older companies to grasp and build out.
“Europe does not just need missile designs. It needs the ability to build, improve, qualify, and produce missiles at industrial scale,” Mikhail Kokorich, co-founder and CEO of Destinus posted on his LinkedIn today.
Rheinmetall Destinus Strike Systems, as the JV is named, will manufacture, market, and deliver advanced missile systems, including cruise missiles and ballistic rocket artillery, starting later this year, the two companies said in an announcement.
Rheinmetall’s CEO may have been critical of some of the newer innovations coming out of Ukraine, but if you read between the lines, he wasn’t dismissing defence tech altogether. In fact, the company last year inked a development partnership with drone tech startup Auterion, and subsequently the pair revealed that Rheinmetall was investing in Auterion as well.
We have reached out to both companies for more information, including to ask whether there is an investment being made into Destinus as part of the deal. For now, it’s notable that the official announcement of the news included an endorsement from no less than Rheinmetall’s CEO, Armin Papperger.
“We must expand the industrial base for modern defence systems in Europe. This joint venture reflects this necessity,” he said. “We are combining Rheinmetall’s production capacities and experience in managing large-scale programs with Destinus’s specific technology and system design. By doing so, we are laying the foundations for scalable, operational missiles that are tailored to the current requirements of the European and allied armed forces.”
Destinus is one of the startups looking to develop hypersonic technology, but deep, yet-to-be-realised technology is not the immediate focus: offering credible alternatives to more expensive, ‘exquisite’ weapons is.
“Europe is entering a new phase of scaling missile production,” said Kokorich in the announcement. “Modern conflict is defined by volume and cost-per-effect. Missile systems are evolving from limited-production assets into industrial products. The real constraint in Europe today is not demand, but industrial capacity.”
Rheinmetall will hold a 51% stake, with Destinus holding the remaining 49%, the companies said. The deal ‘will focus on manufacturing, assembling, testing, and delivering advanced cruise missile systems – target a broad international market in Europe, as well as selected partner countries within the NATO alliance’.
We will update this post as we learn more.
Destinus is listed as one of Resilience Media’s 100 startups to watch 2026.
