Europe developing new cruise missile to be tested in Ukraine
Ruta Block 3 render (Photo: www.destinus.com)
European aerospace company Destinus and German defense conglomerate
Rheinmetall
are accelerating development of a new cruise missile, Ruta Block 3, that is
planned to be tested in Ukraine, Destinus announced
on May 18.
Engineers said Ruta Block 3 will be based on the architecture of the first version of the missile, which has moved from combat trials to serial production. Destinus said Ruta Block 1 is already being produced in the Netherlands and that the company is expanding annual production capacity across its European industrial footprint.
“Europe is entering a new defense era where the decisive factor is no longer the existence of precision weapons, but the ability to produce, replenish, and evolve them at an industrial scale during prolonged high-intensity operations,” Destinus CEO Mikhail Kokorich said.
“Ruta Block 3 is designed around that reality: sovereign European architecture, distributed industrial production, and the ability to scale rapidly across allied nations. Our objective is not to manufacture symbolic quantities of exquisite missiles, but to help establish a credible European long-range strike capability with real industrial depth.”
According to engineers, Ruta Block 3 will be powered by a new turbojet engine currently being designed and will carry a 250-kilogram warhead. The missile’s range is expected to reach about 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles).
Destinus said Ruta Block 3 is expected to cost substantially less than comparable U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles. According to Pentagon budget documents, a Tomahawk cost about $1.3 million apiece in October 2025.
“The system will combine advanced autonomous navigation for
GNSS-degraded environments with terminal sensing and guidance capabilities
under development, and a standard ISO containerized launch architecture
supporting land-based, maritime, and fixed-site deployment,” the company added.
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