Ukrainian company Fire Point plans to begin the first flight tests of the new FP-9 ballistic missile in the near future. Co-founder and chief designer of the company, Denys Shtilerman, reported this in an interview with the Pressing project, UNN writes.
Now we are developing a ballistic missile that will be able to reach both Moscow and St. Petersburg, because Russia is such a monocentric country where everything is concentrated in one place. We are currently testing the engine on the ground and will start flying in the near future. Then we will test the missiles on Moscow
He also noted that after the first flight, the next stage of the test program will begin. According to the designer, one of the main technical challenges in creating the FP-9 was building its own production of solid-fuel engines.
For the FP-9, it was necessary to build a new plant for casting solid-fuel engines. The weight of this engine is quite large, and it all needs to be poured from one mixer. You need a large mixer that can pour such a large missile at one time. Now all this has been done, and we are waiting for the first flight in the near future
Shtilerman also said that Ukraine already has ballistic missiles of shorter range, but currently he considers their use economically impractical. According to him, a ballistic missile with a range of about 300 kilometers costs approximately 15 times more than a cruise missile capable of delivering a similar warhead over a greater distance.
Separately, the chief designer explained that when creating new missiles, the company deliberately focuses not on the most complex technical solutions, but on the ability to quickly scale production.
How the "Flamingo" missile is created - Fire Point showed production features27.06.26, 13:48
Recall
On the night of June 27, Ukrainian long-range FP-5 "Flamingo" missiles successfully struck the "Titan-Barricades" enterprise in Volgograd – one of the key plants of the Russian military-industrial complex, which manufactures artillery systems, self-propelled launchers for the "Iskander-M", "Topol-M" and "Yars" systems, as well as other special military equipment. Later, the strike on the enterprise was officially confirmed by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reporting a hit and a fire on the territory of the plant.