ctg. morning brief, 26 Oct 2026
On 26 Oct 2026, Helsing is buying into Destinus, the Dutch maker of the Ruta cruise missile. The two announced a commercial partnership on 20 Oct, and Helsing will take part in Destinus' latest funding round. Bloomberg reports that round values Destinus at around €6bn ($6.7bn). Neither company has confirmed the number or the size of the stake.
Why it matters: Per Bloomberg, Destinus was valued above €1bn on a 2025 convertible note and was in talks at more than €5bn in May ahead of a planned IPO. A day after the Helsing news, Destinus bought Delft radar-perception startup Perciv AI (terms not disclosed) to bring sensing in-house. Europe's defence startups have stopped just raising. They are buying into each other and building full stacks. The next test is output: missiles a month, not valuation.
Source: https://helsing.ai/newsroom/helsing-and-destinus-establish-a-commercial-partnership
EU governments agreed their position on EU Inc, the '28th regime' company law for startups (23 Oct). Kept: online registration within 48 hours for up to €100. Cut: the central EU registry, so companies stay in national registers. Stock-option tax deferral survives, but only for companies with up to 750 employees and €150m turnover. Member states get 21 months to implement.
Why it matters: This was meant to be Europe's answer to Delaware: one entity, one registry, options that do not get taxed on day one. The Council kept the cheap, fast door and removed the single front desk. Next come talks with the European Parliament. Edition candidate: what EU Inc looks like after the capitals were done with it, line by line, and what founders should push for before the deal closes. A 750-person cap on options leaves out the scaleups Europe most needs to keep.
Source: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2026/10/23/eu-inc-council-adopts-position-on-a-new-eu-corporate-law-for-innovative-companies/
Thales booked €19.12bn of orders in the first nine months of 2026, up 15% organically (22 Oct). Its 29 orders above €100m each added up to €7.57bn, up 42%. Defence orders hit €11.32bn, and space included about €500m in Q3 for government payloads on the 330-satellite IRIS² constellation.
Why it matters: Orders from France rose 47%. One of the big tickets, 12 GM200 radars for Romania, is paid for with EU SAFE loans, so Brussels money is now landing in order books. That is the second big European order book in a week after Saab. Demand is answered. Watch delivery rates.
Source: https://defensehere.com/en/thales-reports-15-rise-in-order-intake-to-e19-1-billion-in-first-nine-months-of-2026/
Poland wants a share of the roughly €20bn in SAFE defence loans that other countries chose not to apply for, and wants to be able to spend some of it on US, Korean and Turkish equipment, Defence24 reports (26 Oct). Warsaw also wants the 2030 delivery deadline stretched in exceptional cases.
Why it matters: Poland already has €43.7bn allocated and says it will spend all of it. But SAFE was built to buy European. If the biggest borrower gets non-EU purchases and longer deadlines written in, buy European becomes a suggestion. Warsaw has a point: contracts from new money could only be signed in the second half of 2027, which leaves little time to deliver by 2030. Europe has to choose between speed and its own factories.
Source: https://defence24.com/defence-policy/equipment-from-the-us-korea-and-turkiye-in-the-european-safe-thats-what-poland-wants