In the autumn of 2026, Ukraine will be able to strike Moscow with its own ballistic missiles. Denys Shtilerman, chief designer and co-owner of the Fire Point company, stated that the FP-9 missile is completing bench tests and moving to the flight test stage. According to him, the missile is capable of penetrating Russian air defenses and delivering mass strikes on strategic targets in the capital of the Russian Federation, UNN reports.
Regarding ballistics, we are currently finishing bench tests for the FP-9 and moving on to flight tests (...) We hope that somewhere in the autumn we will already be launching at Moscow,
Fire Point claims that the key feature of the FP-9 is its flight trajectory. Unlike many classic missiles, it does not perform a so-called "pop-up" maneuver before hitting the target, which significantly reduces the chances of interception.
The pop-up maneuver accounts for about 50%, or maybe even more, of shoot-downs. We hit at a very shallow angle,
In fact, this refers to the concept of a massed air defense breakthrough through a simultaneous strike by a large number of missiles with powerful warheads. According to the designer, one missile will carry about 800 kg of combat payload. Fire Point believes that it is the massed use of ballistics that can change the balance of strikes between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
We can hit 10, 20, 30 objects simultaneously on the territory of Moscow,
In essence, the new ballistics are seen as a tool to "coerce" Russia into stopping strikes on Ukrainian cities. According to Fire Point's vision, a massed simultaneous launch of missiles at Moscow should create risks for the Kremlin comparable to those currently faced by Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.
In fact, this is about changing the logic of the war. While previously Russia had an almost monopolistic ability to deliver mass strikes on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure, the emergence of Ukrainian ballistics for strikes on Moscow creates a fundamentally new level of threat for the Kremlin.
As a reminder,
On May 25, the Russian Federation threatened to make Kyiv "unfit for life." On the same day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during a conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, effectively warned of preparations for a new wave of systemic strikes on the Ukrainian capital.
The German publication Bild reported that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has likely already approved the plan for the 2026 summer military campaign, and massed attacks on Kyiv may only be the first stage of escalation.