KYIV — While Ukraine’s allies twist themselves into knots over how to provide it with security guarantees, Kyiv is moving ahead with its own way of keeping Russia at bay — a new cruise missile able to hit all of European Russia carrying a massive warhead weighing more than a ton.
That’s the Flamingo FP-5 missile, developed by Ukraine’s Fire Point defense company — a fast-growing producer of the combat drones that have become a key weapon in the war against Russia.
“We did not want to go public with this one, but it seems to be the right time. Flamingo is the long-range cruise missile that can carry a 1,150 kilogram warhead and fly into Russia for 3,000 kilometers,” Iryna Terekh, the company’s CEO and technical director, told POLITICO in an interview from her office.
“We came up with it pretty fast. It took less than nine months to develop it from an idea to its first successful tests on the battlefield. I will not tell you about its exact speed, but I can say it’s faster than all the other missiles we currently have,” Terekh said, adding: “It is completely Ukrainian-made.”
Women at war
The unusual name and the missile’s original color — a bright pink tip where the warhead is housed — were an internal company joke on the unheralded role of women in the male-dominated world of weapons and war.
“Our first missiles were pink; they passed all the tests pink, but then we had to change color because of military camouflage requirements. But the woman in charge of production is still there. Women’s touch in missiles,” Terekh said.
The Flamingo could pose some real problems for macho Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“I would say there is some sort of big dick energy moment. You don’t need a scary name for a missile that can fly 3,000 kilometers,” Terekh said of the missile’s claimed range. “The main goal is for a missile to be effective.”
Whatever its original color and name, a missile with that kind of punch is already being noticed by Moscow.
TASS, the state-owned press agency, put out an article this week playing down the threat posed by the missile, belittling it as being based on a design from a British firm — something the Ukrainians deny — and trying to undercut Ukraine’s technical prowess.
Terekh doesn’t agree. “We watched Russian reaction to our first missions and I can tell you the more successful the mission was, the more Russians tried to choke all publicity around it,” she said.
The Flamingo is now in serial production, with 211 produced so far this month.
“By December, we will have many more of them,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters on Wednesday, refusing to give more details about the weapon until “Ukraine could use hundreds of them.”
And Donald Trump seems to be more open to Ukraine hitting back.
In a social media post on Thursday, the U.S. president wrote: “It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders country. It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense.”
“Interesting times ahead!!!” he added.
Hitting Russia where it hurts
A launch video shows the fixed-wing buzz bomb being fired from a platform and arcing into the sky on a tail of yellow fire.
Although Russian air defenses are capable of knocking down such threats, Ukraine is very good at running complex operations with overlapping swarms of drones and missiles to overwhelm the Russians.
If they can get through and hit targets in Russia’s rear, the Flamingo poses a deadly threat.
Drones carry only small explosive loads, which makes it difficult to permanently knock out targets like refineries, power plants, logistical hubs and military airports.
Heavier weapons have a much greater impact. Ukraine’s June attack on an oil refinery in Tuapse used an R-360 Neptune cruise missile carrying a 150-kilogram warhead; it caused a fire that took three days to extinguish.
The Flamingo would be even more devastating.
“All I can say is that Flamingo’s success is significant. Of course, we’re still exploring the maximum capabilities,” said Terekh, noting that her company’s existing drones are “partly responsible for airport closures and high gasoline prices in Russia.”
If Flamingo goes into full production, it could dramatically affect the balance of power between Kyiv and Moscow.
Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow and missile expert at the University of Oslo, called the missile “Ukraine’s strongest security guarantee.”
“If it can field 3,000 to 5,000 of these (and similar) missiles, ready within 24 to 48 hours to destroy upward of 25 percent of Russia’s economic output, further Russian aggression becomes untenable,” he said on social media.
With Putin sending showers of drones and missiles against Ukrainian cities on a daily basis, there is public pressure in Ukraine to make Russia feel the pain.
“People want results; they want to see Red Square on fire. But it’s important to understand we’re not terrorists like our neighbors,” Terekh said. “We founded our company in response to Russia’s aggression, but we have no aggressive intentions; we’re ready to protect our sovereignty.”
The goal with systems like Flamingo is to ensure that Russia is unable to continue the war — and won’t attack again once a peace agreement is finally signed.
“There are many elements, all of which must be dealt with so that we can make sure that Russia does not attack us in a year, or two, or three,” Terekh said.
While Flamingo is important, for Terekh the key to keeping Ukraine independent is “to be fully armed with Ukrainian weapons that have already proven themselves to be the most effective on the battlefield.”
The post Meet Flamingo, the missile that brings European Russia within Kyiv’s range appeared first on Politico.
