Fire Point stated that they are finalizing testing of the FP-7 and FP-9 ballistic missiles and expect that within a month they will undergo codification and procedures required for official acceptance into service.
Fire Point stated that they are finalizing testing of the FP-7 and FP-9 ballistic missiles and expect that within a month they will undergo codification and procedures required for official acceptance into service.
According to an interview with Deutsche Welle with company executives, Fire Point is promoting two modifications in parallel. The FP-7 is called a cheaper alternative to the American ATACMS for precision strikes at shorter distances: the declared range is up to 300 km. The older FP-9 missile, according to the developers, has a range of 800–850 km and carries a warhead weighing 800 kg. Fire Point Chief Designer Denis Shtilerman directly outlined in the conversation that such distances correspond to the goals of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Fire Point Technical Director Irina Terek explained that the focus on ballistics is related to the chances of air defense breakthrough: ballistic missiles, according to her, have a higher probability of «breaking through» the multi-circuit defense around Moscow than cruise missiles or UAVs. She also named the speed of impact as a key parameter for such a scenario — more than 1,200 meters per second.
Fire Point also announced a 2-3 year plan to create an anti-ballistic «shield» for Europe based on an open architecture, so that the software does not depend on specific manufacturers or states. The company claims that it wants to radically reduce the cost of interceptions: the shooting down of one Iskander missile is estimated at about $6 million, while the target is $1-1.5 million. They name the FP-7 as one of the elements of the reduction in cost, and Fire Point says that it is a composite product with simplified control and protection against remote interference or shutdown.
Fire Point specifically emphasized that the speed of FP-7/FP-9 development was made possible by the simplification of defense procedures during the war and less bureaucracy, in particular within the framework of Resolution No. 256 (March 2022). As an example of «long cycles» in traditional programs, Stillerman cited France with the M51 and Russia with the S-400, where development took about 15 years.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how Fire Point invested $100 million in the development of a ballistic program. Currently, the manufacturer already has about a dozen FP-7 and FP-9 missiles for experimental launches and is technically ready to produce up to three missiles per day.
