The Destinus Ruta is a family of mini cruise missiles produced by the European aerospace company Destinus Group BV.
In May 2025 Destinus and Grupo Oesía announced an agreement to develop a guidance, navigation and control system for the Ruta missile system. Oesia claimed the Ruta cruises at a speed of Mach 0.8 and uses terminal optical guidance allowing a final impact accuracy with a circular error probable (CEP) of 15m. The turbojet engine is built in house by Destiny’s so that there are no US parts used in the missile.
In April 2026 Destinus and Rheinmetall announced a plan to establish a joint venture called Rheinmetall Destinus Strike Systems to specialise in the production of advanced cruise missiles and ballistic rocket artillery. At the time the two companies said that Destinus was producing around 2,000 cruise missiles a year and that these had been battle-tested in Ukraine.
The Ruta Block 1 has a claimed range of more than 300km and a payload of 150kg. It has a claimed pre-programmed terminal guidance capable of operating in situations where global navigation satellite systems are denied. It can fly a low-altitude profile using terrain-following navigation. The missile is jet-powered, has wings that are attached before launch, two side-mounted boosters and an open-platform launcher. It reportedly has a total takeoff mass of 300kg.
The Block 2 missile was designed for precision strike against hardened and high-value targets. Notable differences from Block 1 are foldable wings and control surfaces and an in-line booster, which allow the missile to fit in a sealed launch canister, allowing more flexible employment on mobile ground and maritime platforms. It has a claimed range of more than 700km and a payload of 250kg. It is capable of low-altitude terrain-following penetration and uses an electro-optical/infrared seeker for terminal guidance. Elements for Block 2 were being tested as of May 2026 with support from Ukraine's Brave1, with a flight test having been conducted in April 2026. In June 2026, the Netherlands announced an order of 700 Block 2 missiles which would be delivered to Ukraine.
The Block 3 version of the Ruta missile family will have a range of 2000 km while still carrying a 250 kg warhead. It will be powered by a purpose-built turbojet.
Wreckage of a cruise missile was posted online, on 24 July 2026, by Russian sources. The wreckage appears to be a Block 1 missile, on the “missile’s tail section” matching its “known design characteristics”. The tail section was intact only because the warhead had exploded. Location and date of the wreckage is unknown. There is also video of the missile flying towards an unknown target.