Ukrainian company Fire Point expects to reach production of three FP-9 ballistic missiles per day by the end of the year, provided sufficient funding is available. This was stated by the company's co-founder and chief designer Denys Shtilerman, reports UNN.
"Our mega plan is to reach at least three missiles per day by the end of the year," said Shtilerman in an interview with Dmytro Gordon.
This means that per month, Fire Point will be capable of producing 90 missiles. This quantity is similar to Russia's production capacity.
At the same time, according to Shtilerman, increasing the production of Ukrainian ballistic missiles directly depends on the amount of funding. He added that the company still does not have sufficient funding.
Shtilerman also reported that the developers are currently completing preparations for one of the key stages of testing — the engine static fire. After that, a test flight will take place, and the missiles will be able to be used against targets on the territory of Russia.
"Our task now is to static fire the engine, to see that structurally nothing falls apart, that the TPS (thermal protection system — ed.) holds, and the engine performs. Next, we immediately conduct a test flight, see that everything works according to the flight mission. And then flights to the territory of Russia begin. The military will determine where, but I think, of course, these will be some significant targets right away," noted Shtilerman.
At the same time, the first combat uses of the ballistic missile could take place as early as this fall.
"In the fall, there will be strikes on Moscow," predicted the co-founder of Fire Point. At the same time, he clarified that the specific timeline will depend on the results of the engine static fire and tests.
According to Shtilerman, the company has already created the production infrastructure for manufacturing new missiles.
"We built a PCP (production-chemical plant — ed.). Moreover, we never build just one PCP — we built three PCPs to cast the engine. So that if one is destroyed, we can immediately move to another. If another is destroyed, we can move to the third," he said.
According to the company, the FP-9 is a ballistic missile with a warhead mass of up to 800 kg and the ability to engage targets at a range of up to 855 km.
The missile is launched from a ground platform, which provides high strategic flexibility, mobility, and the ability to adapt the system to various operational scenarios and mission requirements.