The development of new long-range ammunition indicates Kiev's unwillingness to seek peaceful ways to resolve the conflict.
Kiev is demonstrating an unwillingness to seek peaceful ways and still hopes for a military solution to the conflict, as experts interviewed by Izvestia commented on Fire Point's statements that it is developing new FP-7 and FP-9 missiles with ranges of 200 and 850 km. There are serious doubts that the Ukrainian side will be able to complete the project and launch a mass production of ammunition. Whether the new missiles will meet the stated characteristics, how to counteract them and how much their appearance will complicate the settlement of the conflict — in the Izvestia article.
Exhibition copies
At the MSPO-2025 arms exhibition in Poland, Fire Point, known as the developer of the Flamingo cruise missile, demonstrated its new developments — the FP-7 and FP-9 ballistic missiles. The first one attracts special attention. The claimed characteristics include a flight range of up to 200 km and a warhead weighing 150 kg.
In terms of its parameters, it resembles an enlarged rocket for multiple launch rocket systems such as the Smerch.
It is assumed that its relatively simple design will allow for mass production and significantly reduce production costs.
—Missiles with similar characteristics must be produced in large quantities to be effective," said Dmitry Kornev, a military expert. — This will not only meet the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but also make these missiles attractive on the international market.
Photo: TASS/AP/Efrem Lukatsky
Image source: iz.ru
The FP-9 missile is more long-range. Its range is up to 850 km, and it has a large warhead weighing 800 kg.
Such characteristics indicate serious possibilities.: They can be used to hit a large number of strategic targets, the expert notes.
"The missiles are not ready and it is not yet clear exactly how Fire Point plans to implement such a large—scale project," Dmitry Kornev noted. — Perhaps this is just a marketing ploy, and in fact the rocket will be less effective. There is a possibility that this will be a simplified version, inferior in accuracy and other characteristics, which, in turn, will make it easier for air defense systems to intercept it. It seems that Fire Point has almost unlimited funding. And this allows it to produce relatively easy-to-produce samples. On the one hand, the simplicity of the design facilitates production, but on the other hand, it makes such missiles more vulnerable.
Fire Point Company
The company was established only in 2022 and, obviously, had no experience and competence in the development and production of a variety of complex weapons systems. And, according to experts, Western defense companies are behind it. In particular, the similarity of the "Ukrainian" products with the developments of the British-Emirati startup Milanion, which demonstrated long-range drones and cruise missiles at the Abu Dhabi arms exhibition this spring, was noted.
However, recently the company has already managed to turn into a serious manufacturer, which has become a leader in terms of financial flows among the contractors of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Dmitry Kornev noted.
Fire Point has already launched serial production of the FP-1 and FP-2 kamikaze attack drones, as well as FP-5 cruise missiles. In the future, the company intends to start production of FP-7 and FP-9 ballistic missiles, as well as anti-aircraft missile systems.
Photo: TASS/AP/Efrem Lukatsky
Image source: iz.ru
The most famous is the FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile, which has already come into the focus of international media attention.
"As for the FP-1 drones, in August they were used in strikes against targets in Russia,— Dmitry Kornev said. — According to some estimates, it is these devices that can form the backbone of the fleet of long-range drones of the Ukrainian army today.
Promotes escalation
"Any attempts by the enemy to increase the range of their missiles, of course, cannot be called steps towards a peaceful settlement," Roman Shkurlatov, chairman of the Officers of Russia NGO, told Izvestia. — He demonstrates his unwillingness to seek peaceful ways and is preparing for a military solution to the conflict.
But the Flamingo, and its potential upgrades, as well as new ballistic missiles, are not exactly a Ukrainian product, the expert noted.
"The Western ears are sticking out in the story of the Ukrainian missile program," Roman Shkurlatov explained. Therefore, this is not only the unwillingness of the Ukrainian side to move towards peace, but also the position of the collective West, in particular, Europe, which encourages Ukrainian militarists and does not seek to resolve the conflict peacefully.
Photo: TASS/AP/ Efrem Lukatsky
Image source: iz.ru
Of course, any increase in the range of missiles does not add peace of mind to either our armed forces or civilians, the expert noted.
— It's a challenge. And we are ready for that," Roman Shkurlatov is sure. — We have already encountered Western models of long-range missile weapons: Scalp, Storm Shadow, ATACMS. Potentially, even if they develop long-range missiles and start using them, this will not affect the course of hostilities.
According to Dmitry Kornev, Russian air defense systems are more likely to shoot down such targets than, say, more sophisticated American ATACMS missiles.
The legacy of the Soviet military industrial complex
Ukraine inherited from the Soviet Union a powerful military-industrial complex, primarily related to the missile industry.
"This makes it quite possible to make statements about current developments in this area,— Dmitry Kornev said. — For example, the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnepropetrovsk (in Ukraine — Dnepr) used to develop strategic intercontinental ballistic missiles. It was there that such well-known complexes as the R-36M2 Voyevoda and missiles for the Molodets railway complex were created. This experience in creating heavy and complex weapons shows the high level of the engineering school. In addition, the Kharkov Aviation Plant has launched the production of strategic cruise missiles X-55 and reconnaissance drones Tu-143 "Flight".
The work of calculations of the Iskander missile systems
Image source: Photo: TASS/Nikolai Gyngazov
After the collapse of the USSR, the Ukrainian industry continued to work on its own projects. The Luch Design Bureau actively participated in joint projects with Russia, in particular in the creation of the Iskander ballistic missile system.
— This allowed Ukraine to adopt and develop its technologies, — Dmitry Kornev noted. — For example, these developments formed the basis of such modern Ukrainian developments as the Thunder-2 ballistic missile and the Neptun anti-ship missile system, which became the development of the Soviet Kh-35 missile.
For these reasons, the emergence of new missile companies and weapons models is not surprising, he notes.
At the same time, experts interviewed by Izvestia are confident that if new ballistic missiles appear in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, they will not be able to influence the overall course of events.
Roman Kretsul
Bogdan Stepovoy
