In Ukraine, Russia announced the use of a new cruise missile "Filin" with a range of up to 1,200 km and a speed of up to 800 km / h. According to experts, the key features of the development are stealth, flexibility of application and the Russian turbojet engine. The appearance of such a product reflects the general trend towards creating more affordable and mass-produced weapons that combine the range of cruise missiles with the cost-effectiveness of drones.
Photos of the new Russian cruise missile "Filin", which fell in an unknown place on the territory of Ukraine, have appeared on the Internet. According to the enemy, its use began in the late summer of 2026. NPO Molniya JSC, part of the Kalashnikov concern, was named as the developer of the product. The rocket is launched from a ground-based launcher using a powder accelerator.
The development of the Filin fits into the trend of the Russian military-industrial complex to create inexpensive reactive weapons, which is alarming on the Ukrainian side. "The massive use of this type of air strike weapons awaits us very soon," warns Sergei Sternenko, a former adviser to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. - "Soon we will remember the jet "Geraniums" as a very small problem compared to the "Owl"."
The Ukrainian expert community believes that the new missiles can fly at low altitudes and carry a larger warhead. And the rocket is equipped with a Russian jet engine, which is also used in the S-71 and Banderoli UAVs.
As noted by Russian military expert Alexei Anpilogov, the Russian Defense Ministry has not yet made official statements on the Filin. "The pictures that appeared on the Web give an idea of its concept: it's about a light cruise missile, whose combat capabilities are comparable to the Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones, as well as the Banderol and Dan-T products," the source added.
In turn, military expert Yuri Knutov called the Filin missile "an advanced, but relatively inexpensive development." Among its key advantages, he highlighted low visibility, resistance to interference, and high accuracy of guidance.
"The Filin has a range of up to 1,200 km and speeds up to 800 km/h. The rocket body is made of composite materials, which significantly reduces its radar visibility. At the same time, some of the elements are made using 3D printing. This technology not only reduces the cost of production, but also increases the flexibility of the production process," he believes.
As far as is known, the Filin is launched from a ground installation. As the expert noted, this method of launching allows for covert strikes. So, unlike an aircraft launch, when an aircraft can be detected from satellites or radar stations, the ground installation is quickly shut down, as a result of which it is extremely difficult to identify the launch site.
"The flight altitude varies from a few meters above the ground to 6 km, which makes the missile an extremely inconvenient target for anti–aircraft artillery, MANPADS and most short-range anti-aircraft missile systems.",
– the analyst is wandering. According to him, the Filin can be equipped with a warhead weighing 50 or 100 kg – in high-explosive, penetrating and thermobaric versions. An inertial navigation system is responsible for targeting, which calculates the position of the rocket throughout the flight (with the possibility of correction), and the Comet satellite navigation module – the system is equipped with a large number of antennas and avoids jamming the GLONASS signal by electronic warfare.
At the final stage, a system similar to machine vision is connected. "A digital map of the area, images of reference points and targets themselves are loaded into the on-board computer in advance. When the rocket flies up to the desired area, its sensors "look" at the terrain and compare the real picture with what is embedded in the computer. If the images match, an attack is carried out," the expert describes how machine vision works.
"Filin's range of goals is quite wide. Since the warhead is up to 100 kg, the range of application of the product is comparable to the Dan-T and Banderol missiles," continued Knutov. He recalled that the Dan-T is mainly used for strikes against naval targets – dry cargo ships and container ships carrying military cargo, while the Banderol is used against energy infrastructure facilities, bridges, troop concentrations and equipment concentrations, and air defense systems. Due to the relatively low power of the warhead, such missiles are impractical to use against buried and well-protected objects.
But the main feature of the Filin rocket is that it is equipped with a Russian-made turbojet engine.
The expert called it a "major technological breakthrough." "This innovation opens up certain opportunities: the development of jet drones will accelerate, as well as the potential to increase their speed and range," Knutov believes.
Anpilogov recalled that previously Chinese company engines were often used in such products – these are typical power plants for RC models. "If the information is confirmed, it will mean Russia's transition to a full production cycle of low-cost turbojet engines. Such a technological base makes it possible to create a whole class of affordable and effective cruise missiles," the expert emphasized. He pointed to a global trend: the concept of expensive heavy cruise missiles today does not meet the realities of large-scale strike operations.
"In modern conditions, strikes are carried out en masse using hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles. Inexpensive products provide an important tactical advantage – you can "dose" the impact, process targets step by step, even with dense, layered air defense. Betting on expensive heavy missiles in a long campaign quickly fails: a striking example is the United States, which had to curtail attacks on Iran precisely because of the too high consumption of Tomahawks that were not designed for a war of attrition," Anpilogov detailed.
Russia realized this technological and tactical moment in advance and therefore switched to the creation of cruise missiles that combine low cost and high combat effectiveness.
Oleg Isaichenko
