Ukraine’s leading arms company, Fire Point, is manufacturing about 100 long-range Flamingo cruise missiles a month, a rate able to support an enduring campaign of deep strike against targets hundreds of miles inside Russia, according to chief executive Iryna Terekh. The startup also produces FP-1 and FP-2 fixed-wing drones at a rate of “hundreds per day”. Manufacturing at scale is restarting after a pause caused by the delay in signing off €90bn of EU lending to Ukraine.
Rapid Growth Since 2022
Fire Point was founded in 2022 after Russia’s invasion began. It now operates from 83 factories inside Ukraine, plus one in Denmark, and employs 6,000 people, up from 3,500 late last year. The company’s development demonstrates the rapid maturing of Ukraine’s homegrown defence industry, finally giving its military long-range capabilities denied by the west earlier in the conflict.
“I’m not aware of any deep strike attack that was happening in the past few months that was not involving our products,” Terekh said. Missile and drone attacks using Fire Point munitions were taking place at a daily rate of “on average five to 15”.
Flamingo Missile Capabilities
Flamingo missiles can carry 1,150kg of explosive, enough to penetrate concrete walls. They were used to attack a Russian military components factory at Cheboksary in June, more than 600 miles from Kharkiv. Their actual flight distance was among “the longest recorded in the history of cruise missile missions”, at about 1,800km (1,118 miles) due to the complexity of the flight path. Each Flamingo costs a little under $600,000, cheaper than a US Tomahawk, which costs approximately $3.5m.
FP-1 Drones and Impact on Russian Oil
The lighter FP-1 drones, with a range of more than 1,000 miles, are used to attack less well defended Russian oil refineries. This campaign has cut Russian oil production by 20% and led to long queues at petrol pumps. The drones cost between $55,000 and $75,000, Terekh added.
“What we’re seeing now is the result of several years of effort by the Ukrainian side,” said Ben Hodges, a former general who commanded the US army in Europe. “They can not only reach deep inside Russia with precision and get past Russian air defences, their weapons also carry a payload big enough to achieve effect.”
Developing Ballistic Missiles and Air Defence
Fire Point is also developing Ukraine’s first ballistic missiles, which Terekh hopes will be first launched by the end of the year. A variant of the short-range FP-7 will form the basis of the Freyja initiative, an international effort involving Ukraine and nine other European countries to create an alternative air defence system to the US Patriot. Fire Point will make launchers and interceptors, with a target cost of $1m per interceptor.
“We adore Patriot,” Terekh said, but added that global manufacturing is nowhere near demand. Only Patriot systems can stop Russian ballistic missiles hitting Kyiv, but Ukraine’s stocks are out. “The whole Pac-3 missile production, the worldwide production rate is around 600-700 missiles per year; and this is exactly the amount of Patriot missiles that were consumed in the Middle East in two weeks,” she added. It is now hoped the technology can be first tested by July next year.
Ownership and Future
Fire Point is largely owned by its founder, businessman Denys Shtilerman. Though Shtilerman held talks about selling a stake to Timur Mindich, a friend and former business associate of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused of running an energy corruption scheme, the founder says no deal went through.
Terekh, who studied architecture before joining Fire Point in summer 2023 when it employed 18 people, said the company exemplifies how the Russian invasion has forced Ukraine to modernise. “Ukraine, in a postwar economy, will need to be an exporter of things with a high additional added value. We do not want to be like a breadbasket any more for the world,” she said, referring to Ukraine’s historical strength in agriculture. For now, however, Fire Point’s weapons are not exported.
