Dutch startup Destinus leads consortium to develop anti-missile defen…

Dutch startup Destinus has been appointed consortium lead for Bliksem EXO, Europe's first sovereign exo-atmospheric anti-ballistic missile defence programme, alongside Airbus, MBDA, Safran and Thales. Joint engineering begins August 2026 with a planned space test of the kill vehicle in 2027. You've just become the systems integrator for a €multi-billion European defence infrastructure play, leading Airbus and MBDA. That makes you the chokepoint for every subcontractor selling sensors, guidance, launch systems and battle management into this programme - and every NATO air defence upgrade that follows.