Launch of the FP-7 returns Ukraine to the small group of countries that produce ballistic missiles - NYT
Kyiv • UNN
The FP-7 was developed and is manufactured by the Ukrainian defense company Fire Point.
The first combat use of Ukraine’s FP-7 ballistic missile brings Ukraine back into the small group of countries capable of producing ballistic missiles. This is reported by The New York Times, writes UNN.
Details
On October 1, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published a video of the launch and reported the first combat use of the FP-7 ballistic missile.
As The New York Times notes, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine had a powerful military and aerospace industry and enterprises that produced, among other things, intercontinental ballistic missiles. After 1991, the relevant production lines were shut down, and the missile industry largely declined.
The FP-7 was developed and is manufactured by the Ukrainian defense company Fire Point. According to the company’s data, the missile has a range of approximately 250 km and a warhead weighing about 200 kg.
Military analysts, commenting to the NYT, suggest that the FP-7’s primary mission will be strikes against Russian launchers and other military targets in border areas. At the same time, Fire Point is developing the longer-range FP-9, which will be capable of striking targets in the Moscow area and strategic facilities of Russia’s defense industry.
Thus, the first combat use of the FP-7 demonstrates not only the emergence of a new type of Ukrainian weapon on the battlefield, but also the revival of domestic ballistic missile production in Ukraine.
Fire Point said that it is restoring ballistic missile production in Ukraine virtually from scratch and is using new technologies.