Click to see full-size image. (Fire Point\Telegram)
Ukraine’s major defense company Fire Point announced on September 4 that it has developed two types of ballistic missiles.
Fire Point is known for producing the FP-1, a fixed-wing, long-range suicide drone that is widely used by Kiev forces in so-called “deep strikes” against Russia. The drone, which is guided via GPS-aided inertial navigation system, has a range of up to 1,600 kilometers and carries a warhead weighing around 120 kilograms.
In addition, the company unveiled last month a land-attack cruise missile dubbed the FP-5 “Flamingo” which it claimed has a range of 3,000 kilometers and carries a warhead weighing 1,150 kilograms.
According to Ukrainian military news site Militarnyi, Fire Point has now presented a project to produce two ballistic missiles, the FP-7 and FP-9.
The FP-7 is reportedly designed for “medium-range” strikes, with a claimed range of 200 kilometers , a top speed of 1,500 meters per second, and a warhead weighing 150 kg. The missile can fly for up to 250 seconds and is launched from ground-based platforms.
Meanwhile, the FP-9, is claimed to be capable of hitting targets far deeper inside Russian territory, reportedly with a range of 855 kilometers, a speed of 2,200 meters per second), and a warhead weighing up to 800 kg. The missile can supposedly reach an altitude of 70 kilometers and has an accuracy of 20 meters.
Ballistic missiles are especially dangerous. The high-altitude and arched flight path makes them hard to intercept. In addition, they can strike targets with little warning, often within minutes.
In an official illustration from Fire Point, the general design of both the FP-7 and FP-9 seemed very similar to that of the early versions of 5V55 anti-aircraft missile which make up the main armament of Soviet-made S-300 long-range air defense systems. These missiles are known for their longer range and higher supersonic speed.
Ukraine inherited a large number of S-300 systems from the Soviet Union, and with them a large stockpile of 5V55 missiles.
The country has already converted the 5V21 missile of the older S-200 long-range air defense system into a ballistic missile, although with no real success. It has also repeatedly accused the Russian military of launching land-attacks with S-300 missiles, without providing any real evidence.
With most of Ukraine’s S-300 systems already destroyed by the Russian military or out of service for lack of spare parts and other issues, Fire Point may be now planning to convert what is left of the 5v55 stockpile into ballistic missiles or use the experience gained from maintaining the missile to produce a ballistic missile version. In either case, there are questions to be asked about the origins of the company’s ballistic missiles.
Click to see full-size image. (Armed Forces of Ukraine)
Fire Point recently come under scrutiny from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, which is investigating whether the company misled the government on pricing and delivery schedules as well as possible links between the company and Tymur Mindich, co-owner of the Kvartal 95 studio founded by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The stated specifications of the Flamingo, which appears to be an exact copy of a cruise missile design called the FP-5 previously exhibited by the United Arab Emirates-based Milanion, were questioned by many experts.
Fire Point’s ballistic missile program should be taken seriously, even if the company was exaggerating. This is not Ukraine’s first attempt to produce such missiles, however. Just last month, the Russian military and intelligence had success in stalling a Ukrainian project to mass produce the Sapsan, a tactical ballistic missile with a range of 700 kilometers and a warhead weighing 480 kg.
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ukraine is losing the war because they are not as smart as the israelis, who are conscripting severely wounded kurds and druze into the idf. and he treats them in a private clinic in tel aviv.
seriously wounded kurdish snipers are worth more to israel than the cost of intensive care treatment. how much would simo häyhä be worth?
zelensky thinks the fighters are waste and that’s why he’s losing the war. the israelis also respect kurdish and druze fighters and therefore forcibly mobilize them (wounded and delivered by the dump delivery service) and treat them in intensive care.
a few bucks for billy gates bio preparat factory
why is the iranian general who spied for israel now enlisted in the idf and fighting in gaza? doesn’t political asylum protect people from mobilization into the idf?
its an equal opprtunity employer, meaning that it strikes fear in the harts of those that receive those missiles and those that make them equally.
we gud innovate 1.8 million coffins
so this artificial company called fire point is going to take old soviet 5v55 missiles which ukraine has lying around, put a sticker on it that says “fp-7” and get several hundered thousand euros from the idiots in brussels for each sticker…… you can’t make this stuff up……