- Category
- War in Ukraine
Ukraine’s FREYJA Interceptor Missile Gets New Dual-Mode Seeker
Prefer U24 Media on Google
- Authors
![Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk]( "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
Ukrainian missile maker Fire Point has updated its FP-7.x Freyja interceptor with a combined infrared and radar seeker, Defence Blog reported on September 28, citing the company’s official X account.
The revised specification replaces the infrared-only seeker previously described for the missile.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
Defence Blog reported that Fire Point published the updated specification card on X but did not explain the change or identify the supplier of the radar component.
Fire Point had presented the Freyja project in August with an imaging infrared seeker designed to track a target’s heat signature. A combined seeker can use both infrared emissions and radar reflections during the terminal phase of an interception, the report noted.
The dual-mode approach can help maintain tracking when one sensor is affected by weather, decoys, or the target’s design. According to Defence Blog, the seeker is mounted in the missile’s nose and guides the interceptor during the final stage of flight.
The FP-7.x is listed as 7.25 meters long and 0.53 meters in diameter. Its top speed is between 1,500 and 2,000 meters per second, equivalent to roughly 5,400 to 7,200 kilometers per hour.
The missile carries a fragmentation warhead designed to detonate near the target and scatter metal fragments. It uses inertial guidance and receives radio course corrections from the ground while in flight.
Fire Point’s August presentation listed Russia’s Iskander-M ballistic missile at about 2,100 meters per second at the end of powered flight, Defence Blog wrote.
The comparison places the current FP-7.x close to the speed range of one of Russia’s main short-range ballistic missile systems.
The FP-7.x is being developed as the interceptor for Freyja, a pan-European ballistic missile defense project intended to provide a cheaper alternative to the US-made Patriot system. Ukraine and nine other European countries signed a declaration launching the initiative on July 13, Defence Blog reported.
Fire Point serves as the project’s main system integrator and has agreements with 13 European defense companies. Partners include Hensoldt, Thales, Diehl Defence, Saab, Kongsberg, Leonardo, MBDA, and Safran, covering radars, guidance systems, seekers, and command-and-control equipment.
According to Defence Blog, Fire Point was founded in Kyiv in 2022 and is best known for its FP-1 long-range attack drones and FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile. The FP-7.x is a faster derivative of the company’s FP-7 ground-attack ballistic missile.
Fire Point has indicated that the FP-7 design drew on Soviet-era S-300 and S-400 interceptor concepts. The company also uses composite materials in the airframe to reduce production costs, the report noted.
Fire Point chief executive Iryna Terekh told Janes in July that the current FP-7.x uses a blast-fragmentation warhead. Defence Blog reported that Terekh described the configuration as having a low chance of destroying the payload of an incoming ballistic missile.
The company plans to develop the missile into a hit-to-kill interceptor that destroys its target through direct impact. Terekh also indicated that the FP-7.x could eventually reach about 2,200 meters per second as development progresses.
Fire Point wants each interceptor to cost less than $1.14 million and aims to produce 2,000 missiles per year, according to Defence Blog. The company presents the system as a lower-cost alternative to Patriot interceptors, which remain in limited global supply.
Ukraine continues to rely heavily on Patriot systems to counter Russian ballistic missiles. Defence Blog noted that Fire Point hopes to have the first FP-7.x interceptors ready by the end of 2026 if European partners deliver the remaining components.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously revealed that Ukraine expects the first FREYJA air defense system to be ready by the end of 2026.
Discuss this article:
-9a7b3a98ed5c506e0b77a6663f5727c5.png)
-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
