The FP-7 ballistic missile from Fire Point will be ready for combat use within several weeks, the company's CEO says
Kyiv • UNN
Another ballistic missile—the FP-9—is planned to be tested by the end of autumn.
The FP-7 ballistic missile with a range of up to 300 km has successfully completed ground and flight tests and will be ready for combat use within several weeks. This was announced by Irina Terekh, CEO of the leading Ukrainian defense company Fire Point, during a panel discussion as part of the MSPO International Defence Industry Exhibition in Poland, the UNN correspondent reports.
Details
According to her, the FP-7 has already passed two of the three levels of testing. The first involves ground and laboratory testing of each system and subsystem separately, such as the rocket engine or various navigation systems. The second involves flight tests conducted on the territory of Ukraine and fully controlled. At this stage, the maximum amount of data is collected in order to adjust the system and determine whether its actual capabilities correspond to those that were modeled. The third stage involves military testing, which is part of the codification process and can already, to some extent, be considered military deployment.
We have successfully completed the first two stages and are now working on the third. Therefore, we expect the system to be commissioned very soon. We are talking about weeks, not months or anything like that
As for the FP-9 ballistic missile, it is currently at the second stage of testing.
And we are pleased that we will be able to move to the third stage fairly soon. However, since this is a very long-range ballistic missile, there is a minimum point on the ballistic trajectory at which we can programmatically stop its flight. And for the FP-9, this minimum range is still so great that the second stage will probably gradually transition into the third, because there is not enough space in Ukraine to test it fully. And we will probably have to begin testing directly on the enemy
Irina Terekh emphasized that the main idea behind the FP-9 is to provide the ability to strike targets that could never previously be reached by ballistic missiles.
Our number one priority is to complete development as quickly as possible. So at present, we plan to conduct the tests preferably by the end of autumn. But at the very least, I am confident that this will happen this year
In addition to ballistic systems, Fire Point produces the FP-1 and FP-2 long-range drones, as well as the FP-5 "Flamingo" cruise missile, capable of flying 3,000 kilometers. According to the company, it is these mass-produced items that are generating the money for the missile program.