00:00Hello and welcome to the Destinous Booth, the French, well, almost French, company I've talked about for years.
00:06Before the war in Ukraine, I had interviewed their specialist.
00:10They were developing a project that seemed futuristic.
00:13Hydrogen-powered, hypersonic propulsion for international logistics.
00:18But in the meantime, the war in Ukraine happened.
00:21They stopped being Swiss, which allowed them to work over there.
00:23They became quite French in the meantime.
00:25They opened several offices, and above all, they are truly operational.
00:30Deployed in the field with hundreds of highly positive field reports.
00:44At the war's start, Destinous quickly shifted to other projects, like the Lord.
00:49The Lord is a long-range, remotely-operated munition.
00:53So, it's a kind of low-cost missile that was first used by the Da Vinci Wolves of the SBU.
00:58So, it uses a relatively simple engine.
01:01A piston engine.
01:02The aim is to carry 40 kilograms of payload for 700 kilometers.
01:07Except that today, well, the war has evolved.
01:10The Russians have electronic warfare.
01:12So, this simple system continues to be produced and used in Africa.
01:16Maybe in Saudi Arabia, in India, etc.
01:18It's a relatively simple system to potentially exhaust the enemy's ammunition.
01:23And then, have a system that can still get through to fixed targets.
01:28And so, from that moment on, they switched to a version developed specifically for Ukraine.
01:33Which is even much more efficient.
01:34And it's called the Ruta.
01:36The Ruta.
01:37In Block 1, the goal is to carry 125 kilograms of payload, over 250 kilometers, at Mach 0.7.
01:45So, it's a propulsion system that is extremely fast.
01:49And what's interesting is that from start to finish, navigation is done entirely visually.
01:54Optically.
01:55You don't need GPS.
01:56You don't need inertial navigation systems that lose accuracy.
01:59It will recognize waypoints on the ground.
02:03And in this way, it can navigate from its starting point to its target without being jammed in any way.
02:08And despite these capabilities, it's still low cost.
02:12It's produced in Spain and the Netherlands.
02:14And it's widely used in Ukraine.
02:16And the one you see above me is the Block 2.
02:18250 kilos at a range of 700 kilometers with the same performance trajectory on BC.
02:24It will adapt.
02:25It will avoid enemy threats.
02:26It can go around.
02:27It can make turns.
02:28And so on.
02:29You see, we're really talking about cruise missiles that are launched from the ground.
02:33Containerized.
02:34Things that are very effective.
02:35There is now a Block 3 that is in development.
02:38Even heavier.
02:39And get this.
02:40The goal is to be able to fire out to 2,000 kilometers.
02:44But that's not all.
02:45There are also airdropped versions.
02:48And I'm telling you, airdropped.
02:50Meaning it's not carried under a fighter jet.
02:52This one, we're going to put it in containers.
02:55And these containers, for example, go in the back of an A400M.
02:58That way you have dozens and dozens of these munitions, these cruise missiles.
03:03Once again, extremely affordable compared to everything we usually have.
03:07And like that, the A400M will drop the container directly when it's under the parachute.
03:13These munitions will go off one by one, each targeting a different target, potentially operating as a swarm to strike
03:20various targets.
03:21And of course, when you're present in Ukraine, you're also interested in defense.
03:26So this is the Hornet.
03:27The Hornet family in general.
03:29For over two years, Destinus has intercepted Shaheed drones on site using various interceptors.
03:34The first version was fairly lightweight.
03:37One hundred percent electric propulsion, we can go up to 40 kilometers away with a payload of 1 to 1
03:43.2 kilograms.
03:45And an explosion near our target.
03:47And when we're close, just a few dozen centimeters or one or two meters away, the explosion is something special.
03:53There are hundreds of small steel balls that will shoot out like this toward the target.
03:58And they can disintegrate the Shaheed from a distance.
04:00And the one behind me? Well, that's the new version.
04:04What's interesting here is that there are also retractable wings, which means it will be containerized and we can launch
04:11it in salvos if necessary, assigning each drone a different target.
04:15It will be able to carry a 3 kilogram payload out to 70 kilometers, and it goes at 400 kilometers
04:22per hour as well.
04:23What's nice is that there's also a naval version now being developed, so it can be directly integrated into ships
04:29for their protection.
04:30Land-based systems have lots of space.
04:32But on a ship, it's more complex with different conditions, salinity, and many things to validate.
04:38And then, Destinus, a French company, as I mentioned, has an international presence, a lot of sales abroad, and is
04:45very, very invested and very, very present in Ukraine.
04:49They've invested, they've put in the effort, and as a result, they've proven that their system is effective.
04:54So they have sales, and they export internationally.
04:57So it's really a gem that's super interesting, and you should keep an eye on them.
05:01We've been following them for more than five years now on the channel.
05:04But what's interesting is that they also make all the subcomponents.
05:07So they're also involved in everything related to propulsion, engines, including explosives.
05:13They have partnerships everywhere.
05:15Artificial intelligence is developed in-house.
05:18As for navigation, it's because they acquired a company that made optical navigation systems for helicopters.
05:24And strategically, they have an advantage.
05:26Because you should know that in 2023, they produced almost 4,000 drones over the year.
05:32They were the biggest drone producers in Europe.
05:35But they don't make any noise.
05:37They're very discreet.
05:38And they've completely left the drone market because they believe much more in missiles.
05:43Drones take too long.
05:44They're intercepted too often.
05:45They're too easy to detect.
05:47They get jammed, and so on.
05:48Whereas with missiles, obviously, now you have to be able to produce them in large quantities, at scale, to get
05:54low-cost missiles.
05:55A bit like what we see in Ukraine.
05:57Because once again, the CEO is Ukrainian.
06:00So they really have an ecosystem they're building around themselves.
06:03It's a company with a future, ladies and gentlemen.
06:06That's Destinous.
06:07I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you very soon.
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