Destinus

Destinus was founded in March 2021 in Payerne, Switzerland, by the physicist and entrepreneur Mikhail Kokorich, initially to develop hydrogen-powered supersonic and hypersonic aircraft. As the business shifted toward military applications, the group moved its headquarters to the Netherlands in late 2024; it retains operations in Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, the UK and Ukraine.

Today the product line is dominated by unmanned military systems: the Ruta family of long-range strike and loitering systems developed with Rheinmetall, the Lord low-cost cargo, ISR and strike drone, and the Hornet interceptor family, which is also being developed for naval counter-UAS use with the Dutch Ministry of Defence. The company also designs turbojet engines, airframes and flight software in-house.

Destinus acquired the Dutch gas-turbine maker OPRA in 2023 and the Swiss AI aviation firm Daedalean in 2025. Its systems have been supplied to Ukraine, and the company reports several hundred employees across its European production sites.