Ukrainian missile maker Fire Point — best known for its long‑range Flamingo cruise missile — is racing to build a low‑cost air defence system and says it aims to intercept its first ballistic target by the end of 2027. The company’s co‑founder and chief designer, Denys Shtilierman, told Reuters this week that Fire Point is in talks with European firms to develop a system that could cut the cost of intercepting a ballistic missile to below $1 million, a fraction of current expenses tied to Western systems.
Shtilierman said Fire Point is seeking partners in radar, seeker and communications technology and named European suppliers with strong radar offerings — including Weibel, Hensoldt, SAAB and Thales — as examples of the kinds of collaborators it needs. He declined to disclose the specific companies in the talks. Fire Point’s goal, he said, is to field a working intercept capability by late 2027, describing the price target as a potential “game changer” for air defence acquisition decisions worldwide.
The push comes as demand for ballistic‑missile defences has surged amid fighting in Ukraine and renewed missile strikes in the Gulf. Fire Point argues that U.S. Patriot batteries, the main Western option against ballistic threats, often require two or three interceptors per engagement and that each interceptor costs several million dollars. Achieving reliable intercepts at below $1 million apiece would, the company says, make such systems far more affordable for middle‑income states and smaller militaries.
Fire Point, founded after Russia’s 2022 invasion, has rapidly expanded from producing long‑range strike drones into cruise missiles and now ballistic projects. Its FP5 “Flamingo” cruise missile and dozens of long‑range drones have been used in strikes deep inside Russian territory, the company says. Fire Point reports production capacity of up to 2,500 long‑range drones per month and told Reuters it makes “hundreds” of strike drones a day; it estimates unit production cost at about €50,000 each, while Flamingo missiles cost roughly €600,000 apiece. The company acknowledged bottlenecks in engine production but said an in‑house engine will reach mass production in October and a Danish rocket‑fuel plant expected to come online later this year will ease supply constraints once final approvals are secured.
Alongside the air‑defence project, Shtilierman outlined an accelerated missile development programme. Fire Point is in the final stages of two supersonic ballistic designs: an FP‑7 short‑range system with roughly 300 km range that he said will be deployed “in the close future,” and the larger FP‑9 capable of carrying an 800 kg warhead to about 850 km, which is about to enter testing. He suggested the FP‑9 would expand Kyiv’s reach significantly; Russian defence officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Financially, Fire Point is awaiting government approval for a proposed $760 million purchase of a 30% stake by a Middle Eastern investor that Ukrainian media have identified as Emirati Edge Group. The deal, if cleared by Ukraine’s anti‑monopoly authority — which has until roughly October to decide — would value the company at about $2.5 billion, Shtilierman said. He added that the investment would be the first step in a broader plan to build a space‑launch terminal in the UAE and eventually field a constellation of low‑orbit satellites, with a carbon winding machine already produced to make solid‑rocket boosters and “agreements with a couple of Western companies” at the conceptual stage.
Analysts caution the 2027 timetable is ambitious but say there will be substantial demand for lower‑cost interceptors even if kill rates are below those of top Western systems. Any foreign sales will still hinge on Kyiv’s wartime export controls and state approval, and Fire Point has said it will not accept further major investments until it has demonstrated success with its missile‑defence effort.