Destinus Group BV, a defense company publicly traded on the Dutch stock exchange, has signed a €195 million agreement to acquire Daedalean AG, a firm specializing in artificial intelligence solutions for aviation.
What makes this deal especially interesting is that Destinus is also the manufacturer of the Ruta missile-drone, whose use by Ukraine became publicly known in late 2024. This was reported by the German defense portal Hartpunkt.
Read more: Ukraine's Ruta Missile Drone Will Get an EW-Immune Navigation System
According to the outlet, the acquisition of Daedalean AG is expected to be completed by 2025. The officially stated goal is "to integrate cutting-edge AI technologies into Destinus’s core products."
Daedalean, founded in 2016, primarily specializes in navigation systems for aircraft that must operate in GPS-denied environments. The company employs 150 people, including 13 PhDs with deep expertise in avionics and artificial intelligence. Daedalean had already cooperated with Destinus on several projects, so this acquisition appears to be a logical progression of their partnership.
Destinus itself has a staff of 500 and is one of the largest UAV manufacturers in Europe. Its headquarters are in the Netherlands, with offices in Germany, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Ukraine. The company claims it needs Daedalean’s expertise specifically for developing AI-enabled swarm deployment capabilities for strike drones.
Defense Express would like to highlight the following point: the vision of "swarms of AI-guided Ruta missile-drones attacking russia" may sound exciting, but it’s important to recall reports from May 2025 stating that this type of strike UAV is to be equipped with a navigation system resistant to both GPS disruption and electronic warfare.
So why did the manufacturer of the Ruta go even further and acquire an entire AI development company? For now, this question remains open. However, it’s quite likely that the decision was driven by Daedalean’s unique competencies, particularly in developing robust, interference-resistant navigation systems for swarm-configured strike UAVs.
In December 2024, Defense Express reported on the Ruta missile, including officially released information on its testing, features, and capabilities. We also examined the broader pros and cons of missile-drones versus conventional systems, and looked into how Ukraine’s Palianytsia UAV counters the iranian-made Shahed drones.
Read more: Ukraine Advances Missile Technology with New Ruta Missile Tests
