Ukrainian ATACMS analogue - what is the new FP-7 ballistic missile?
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine is moving to the stage of test strikes with new FP-7 ballistic missiles on Russian territory. They are called the Ukrainian analogue of American ATACMS.
Denis Shtilerman, co-founder of Fire Point, reported that the first test of the FP-7 ballistic missile has already taken place. The testing phase for its use in strikes on Russian territory is now beginning.
Ukraine is actively developing its own ballistic missiles, which could mark a new stage in the war with Russia. Such weapons are capable of fundamentally changing the balance of power, as countering ballistic missiles is significantly more difficult than drones or cruise missiles.
Anatoliy Khrapchynskyi, a reserve Air Force officer and development director of a defense enterprise, explained to UNN why Ukraine is only now reaching this stage of missile technology development, how the new missiles might differ from American ATACMS, and whether Ukrainian ballistic missiles are capable of hitting targets in Moscow.
Why Ukraine is only now creating ballistic missiles
Many Ukrainians are surprised that after four years of full-scale war, news about Ukrainian ballistic missiles has only just begun to emerge. However, according to Khrapchynskyi, the reason is the lack of a systematic state funding program.
He explains that most of the technological solutions currently used at the front were not created within large state programs, but thanks to the initiatives of individual teams, engineers, and private investors.
Most of the solutions working on the front line today are the initiative of people who united and began supplying these solutions to the army. This applies to attack drones, reconnaissance drones, and electronic warfare equipment.
According to him, in many countries, the process of creating complex weapons looks different. For example, in Great Britain, the state sets the technical specifications and funds the development.
Britain, for example, ordered the development of missiles for Ukraine. It allocated funds to several companies, set clear technical specifications - what range, what payload, what the cost of the missile should be. And money is allocated for this.
In Ukraine, however, according to him, even in the fifth year of the war, many developments are created practically on the initiative of the engineers themselves.
We have separate funds, investors, defense accelerators that invest money. But missile development is an extremely expensive process. That is why most of our solutions are cheap and quickly scalable systems, such as FPV drones or interceptor drones.
How the Ukrainian ballistic missile is similar to ATACMS
The developers of the new Ukrainian FP-7 missile state that its concept is similar to the American ATACMS system.
According to Khrapchynskyi, the main similarity lies not in the design, but in the principle of application.
These are missiles that can operate on important objects at long distances and fly along a ballistic trajectory. Such a trajectory is much more difficult for air defense systems to intercept.
He adds that technical solutions can use already known technologies, and this is not a problem.
If a missile uses certain technologies that have already been applied somewhere, this is not a drawback. On the contrary, it shortens the path to creating effective weapons.
How accurate is the Ukrainian ballistic missile?
According to preliminary data, the accuracy of the new Ukrainian missile can be about 14 meters. Khrapchynskyi explains that for the initial stage of development, this is a completely normal indicator.
14 meters is a starting indicator that can be improved. It must be understood that in Ukraine, this direction has practically not been developed for decades, and many technologies are now being created almost from scratch.
At the same time, such accuracy already allows hitting important military targets.
If we talk about airfields, warehouses or production facilities - such accuracy is quite sufficient. For a workshop or an aircraft parking lot, this is more than enough.
Is Ukrainian ballistics capable of hitting targets in Moscow?
One of the questions that most interests Ukrainians is whether the new missiles will be able to reach Moscow. FP-7 missiles have a range of 200 km, but the next modification, FP-9, will allow striking at 855 km.
According to Khrapchynskyi, this is a completely realistic task.
If we talk about Moscow's air defense, it is mostly designed to combat drones and cruise missiles. It was not created as a system to counter massive ballistic strikes.
He notes that Russia declares the capabilities of its S-400 and S-500 systems to intercept ballistic missiles, but the effectiveness of these systems raises questions.
Even if such capabilities are technically declared, it does not mean that they work as effectively as the Russians say.
At the same time, ballistic missiles can be used to strike key military facilities in Russia.
For example, in Korolyov, near Moscow, there is a large tactical missile armament plant where X-101, X-55, and other missiles are produced. For such an object, an accuracy of 14 meters is quite sufficient.
Is Russian air defense capable of stopping a ballistic strike?
According to Khrapchynskyi, the Russian air defense system is significantly less adapted to combating ballistic missiles than, for example, American Patriot complexes.
Patriot with PAC-3 missiles is specifically designed to intercept ballistics. In Russia, most systems are modernized complexes that were originally developed for other tasks.
At the same time, some Russian systems, such as "Pantsir," are generally not capable of effectively working against ballistic targets.
Pantsir is a short-range system designed to combat aircraft, cruise missiles, and drones. It was not created to intercept ballistic missiles.
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"If 10 missiles fly to Moscow - most will reach"
According to Khrapchynskyi, if Ukraine acquires a sufficient number of ballistic missiles, they could become a serious threat to Russia's military infrastructure.
If Ukraine finds a solution to increase the range to 500-600 kilometers, then hitting targets in Moscow is a completely realistic task.
According to him, Russian air defense is not able to completely cover the capital from such strikes.
If, hypothetically, ten ballistic missiles are launched at Moscow, then it can be said that approximately 70% of them will reach their targets.