Destinus Closes Perciv AI Acquisition to Integrate Radar AI to Track Drones and Fly Without GPS

Destinus Group B.V. has completed the acquisition of Perciv B.V., the Delft-based developer of artificial intelligence (AI) radar perception software known as Perciv AI, the European missile and drone manufacturer announced on October 21, 2026. Perciv AI will operate as Destinus’ center for radar perception, with its founding team continuing to lead the business. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal extends Destinus’ drive to own the critical layers of its strike and air defense systems rather than source them from suppliers. It follows the CHF 180 million (about $225 million) purchase of Zurich-based Daedalean AG, which closed on January 5, 2026, and a planned joint venture with the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) to industrialize radio frequency (RF) seekers for interceptors. It also lands one day after Destinus announced a commercial partnership with military AI company Helsing to offer joint solutions to NATO and allied forces, with Helsing taking part in Destinus’ latest funding round.

Perciv AI Acquisition Brings Neural-Network Radar Processing In-House

Perciv AI builds neural-network models that process radar data for object detection and tracking, including targets with a low radar cross section (RCS). Its software also supports radar-based navigation when Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals are unavailable or degraded. Both functions target the hardest problems for low-cost interceptors: finding small drones and one-way attack munitions with weak radar echoes, and navigating through jamming and spoofing.

The company was founded by Andras Palffy, Balazs Szekeres, and Srimannarayana Baratam, all alumni of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). Palffy, who serves as Director of Technology, earned his PhD at TU Delft in 2022 with a dissertation on radar-based road user detection for intelligent vehicles. The firm originally targeted automotive and robotics customers with a hardware-agnostic radar software development kit and radar-camera fusion, pitching low-cost radar sensors as an alternative to lidar. In December 2024 it raised a €2.5 million seed round led by DayOne Capital and Keen Venture Partners, joined by Vinci Venture Capital, and by 2025 the founders reported growing demand from the defense sector.

That heritage matters: software that extracts rich detection data from inexpensive radar hardware suits mass-produced interceptors, where every euro of sensor cost multiplies across thousands of rounds. “Radar perception needs to be developed as part of the complete system,” said Mikhail Kokorich, Founder and CEO of Destinus. “Bringing Perciv AI into Destinus gives us control over a critical technology and brings its engineers directly into the development of our products.”

Fusing Daedalean Optics With Radar Across the Destinus Sensor Stack

Daedalean already provides Destinus with optical perception and GNSS-denied navigation, and the company markets a separate navigation subsystem, Vista, for operations without satellite positioning. Perciv AI adds the radar layer, which Destinus says will enable closer integration of optical and radar sensing across its systems. Radar complements electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) sensors at night, in cloud and rain, and against targets whose visual signature is easily masked.

The most direct beneficiary is the Hornet Block 2, a dual-role interceptor and precision strike system designed against subsonic aerial threats as well as maritime and ground targets. Company specifications list an interception range of 50 to 75 km, a strike-mission range beyond 150 km, and a 3 kg payload, with EO/IR and radar guidance for autonomous engagement in GNSS-denied environments. The canister-launched system is designed for AI-coordinated swarm operations with dynamic target allocation.

The planned TNO joint venture covers the hardware side of that radar guidance. The active RF seeker, roughly the size of an ice hockey puck, is intended to discriminate targets from decoys in the terminal phase, with first demonstration products expected in early 2027. TNO will develop and validate concepts and architectures, while Destinus handles system design, integration, and industrialization. Destinus has not said whether Perciv AI’s software will run on that seeker, on ground-based fire control radars, or on both, nor which platform will field it first.

Third Dutch Acquisition Deepens Destinus Vertical Integration Strategy

Perciv AI is Destinus’ third acquisition in the Netherlands, following the purchase of assets from OPRA in 2023 and Aerialtronics in 2025. Founded in 2021, Destinus has grown to more than 500 employees and now develops propulsion in-house, including the T35, T70, and T150 turbojets for small unmanned platforms, cruise-missile swarms, and larger air vehicles. Adding a radar perception team in Delft closes another gap between airframe, engine, navigation, and seeker.

The strategy is aimed at production economics as much as performance. A joint Aeon-Destinus proposal is one of 10 finalists in Topic 1 of the U.S. Army’s xTech Apex Intercept competition, which seeks a low-cost interceptor all-up round and fire control solution integrated with the M903 launch station and the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS). In the white-paper evaluation, the Army gave “Time to Scale” the same 25% weighting as technical approach.

“Our work with Destinus over the past year showed the value of connecting perception research directly to system development,” said Palffy. “Joining Destinus gives us the scale to develop the technology further and grow the team in Delft.”

Analysis: For NATO air defense planners, the binding constraint against drone and cruise missile salvos is no longer interceptor performance alone but cost per engagement and magazine depth. Owning the perception software lets Destinus tune detection algorithms to its own seeker, airframe, and fire control data instead of integrating black-box supplier code. The risk is execution: Destinus must merge Daedalean’s safety-critical optical stack, Perciv AI’s automotive-derived radar models, and a radar seeker from a TNO joint venture still awaiting regulatory approval into qualified military hardware. Models trained on road scenes must be revalidated against clutter, countermeasures, and low-RCS aerial targets before they earn operational trust.

The next markers are the formal establishment of the TNO joint venture, which remains subject to regulatory approvals, and its seeker demonstrations in early 2027. In the United States, the Army plans to select up to three Topic 1 winners in xTech Apex Intercept by December 31, 2026. Destinus has not disclosed the price, Perciv AI’s headcount, or whether Perciv AI will keep serving its automotive and robotics customers.