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Mike Pompeo Joins Ukrainian Defense Startup Fire Point in Strategic Board Move
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Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has joined the advisory board of Ukrainian defense company Fire Point, according to AP on November 17.
Fire Point, a previously little-known firm that rose to prominence after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, produces the FP-1 long-range drone and the Flamingo, or FP-5, cruise missile, which Ukrainian officials say can strike targets deep inside Russia and occupied Crimea.
Executives told AP the company expects about $1 billion in revenue this year and plans to more than double its current missile output as Ukrainian forces seek additional domestically produced long-range weapons amid limited supplies of Western systems.
According to Fire Point’s Chief Technology Officer, Iryna Terekh, the firm launched an advisory board and named Pompeo a member on November 12, with three more advisers expected to join later.
“It’s a big honor for us,” Terekh told AP, saying Pompeo’s appointment is part of an effort to ensure the company follows “the clearest and best corporate standards.”
She said Fire Point has commissioned a major international firm to audit its pricing and production.
“In general, it’s good they are working on this,” she added, referring to the investigation. “We completely support, as a company, the fact that this investigation is happening.”
The company is also expanding abroad under the so-called Danish model, in which foreign governments finance weapons production directly in Ukraine, rather than buying equipment from their own industries and donating it.
Danish officials have stated that Fire Point will construct a plant there to produce solid rocket propellant, with national legislation temporarily adjusted to permit the facility to open. Terekh noted that the project aims to eliminate a “bottleneck” in missile fuel supplies.
Earlier, it was reported that Ukrainian defense company Fire Point had begun serial production of its FP-5 “Flamingo” cruise missile, assembling dozens of units per month with plans to reach about 210 monthly while fielding a composite-bodied weapon carrying a roughly 1,150-kilogram warhead for long-range strikes deep into Russia.
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