- Category
- Defense Tech
Fire Point Says Its 850-Km FP-9 Ballistic Missile Is Entering the Final Stretch
Prefer U24 Media on Google
- Authors
![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Ukrainian defense company Fire Point plans to complete development of its FP-9 ballistic missile, designed for a range of up to 850 kilometers, by the end of fall 2026, while its shorter-range FP-7 has already entered the codification process.
Fire Point CEO and CTO Iryna Terekh outlined the company’s progress in an interview with entrepreneur and blogger Andrii Fedoriv published on September 25.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
Terekh said Fire Point has been working on its ballistic missile program for less than two years—a timeline she contrasted with traditional development cycles that can stretch for decades.
“Similar developments have never taken less than 15 years,” she said.
Fire Point is developing two ballistic missiles simultaneously, with both projects now approaching their final stages.
“The short-range ballistic missile is, you could say, already ready. That is, it is going through the codification process,” Terekh said.
She confirmed that the weapon in question is the FP-7, with a range of up to 300 kilometers, or roughly 185 miles.
The second missile is significantly more ambitious.
“The long-range one is 850 kilometers. You could also say that it is in the final stage. But the final stage still means a series of tests,” Terekh said.
Asked when a Ukrainian ballistic missile could reach Moscow, Terekh said Fire Point already has a target timeline.
“We plan to do this by the end of autumn. Specifically, the long-range ballistic missile that should be able to reach Moscow,” she said.
Terekh stressed that Fire Point does not select targets for the weapon. Operational targeting decisions belong exclusively to Ukraine’s Armed Forces. She added, however, that personally she would “very much like it to be Moscow.”
The pace of development has come with an enormous price tag. According to Terekh, Fire Point has invested approximately $200 million in the FP-7 program alone.
“Development of our first ballistic missile, the FP-7, is approximately $200 million that we spent on R&D and preparation for initial production,” she said.
The larger FP-9 will require even greater investment. Terekh attributed the costs to highly specialized engineering teams, repeated testing, expensive materials and the need to develop critical technologies and components internally.
Many of those components cannot simply be purchased internationally because their export is tightly restricted—or because, in some cases, commercially available equivalents do not exist.
“Ballistic missiles mean hundreds of millions of dollars in R&D,” Terekh said.
Only a relatively small group of countries possesses indigenous ballistic missile capabilities, she added.
Earlier, Terekh revealed that Ukraine’s FP-7 ballistic missile completed about 15 test launches and is now undergoing Defense Ministry certification, putting it on track for its first combat use as early as this fall.
Discuss this article:
-9a7b3a98ed5c506e0b77a6663f5727c5.png)
-016c2202c347e770466d89db2c30f8a5.jpg "Ukrainian soldiers train with armed ground robots at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on September 3, 2025.")
