Rheinmetall is moving into the cruise missile business, announcing its new joint venture with Dutch defense start-up Destinus will begin production of deep-strike weapons as early as late this year. The venture, called Rheinmetall Destinus Strike Systems, marks the German arms group's first entry into cruise missile manufacturing — traditionally a maker of tanks, artillery and ammunition.

The timing reflects Europe's urgent push to develop independent strike capabilities after President Trump cancelled the Biden-era plan to deploy US Tomahawk missiles to Germany. Destinus's Ruta Block 2 missile has a range exceeding 700km, shorter than the cancelled US weapons but designed to meet demands from Germany and other European customers. Destinus already supplies cruise missiles to Ukraine and was recently named by Russia's defence ministry as a possible target.

Despite first-quarter results falling short of analyst expectations, Rheinmetall maintains its 2026 guidance for 40-45% revenue growth, projecting sales to climb from approximately €10bn to over €14bn. The company's order backlog has reached a record €73bn, up from €56bn a year ago, including €5.5bn from its new naval division after acquiring Bremen-based shipyard Naval Vessels Lürssen. CEO Armin Papperger said the company is well on course to achieve its annual targets.