Ukrainian «Flamingo» missile can evade air defense systems, experts say
The Ukrainian cruise missile «Flamingo» from Fire Point demonstrates the ability to bypass air defense systems.
Flamingo missile / © Associated Press / © Associated Press
In August, Ukrainian and Western media released photos and videos of tests of the new Ukrainian cruise missile «Flamingo, ” developed by Fire Point. Experts emphasize that „Flamingo“ is designed to effectively evade modern air defense systems.
This was noted by experts from the Conflict Intelligence Team in an interview with Radio Svoboda.
The missile prototype was previously displayed at the IDEX exhibition in February in the UAE, presented by the British-Emirati company Milanion Group as its own Milanion FP-5 design. Fire Point and Milanion have collaborated with Ukraine on defense projects multiple times.
The idea for «Flamingo» originated at the end of 2024 from a sketch on a napkin. Its design was inspired by the German V-1 and Soviet «Strizh, ” from which it borrowed the unusual placement of the engine above the fuselage.
Technical specifications and capabilities
«Flamingo» is among the most advanced cruise missiles: experts estimate its length at 10–12 meters, with a wingspan of around 6 meters. For comparison, Storm Shadow/Scalp are roughly half this size, and the Kh-101 about one and a half times smaller.
The missile has a range of up to 3,000 km, carries a 1,150 kg warhead, and has a deviation from the target of up to 14 meters. Navigation relies on GPS and an inertial system. Its cruising speed is approximately 850–900 km/h, with a maximum of up to 950 km/h.
Experts highlight that «Flamingo» is designed to effectively evade modern air defense thanks to its large fuel capacity and the AI-25 turbojet engine, which allows for 3.5 hours of flight.
Production scale
According to Fire Point’s technical director, Iryna Terekh, the company currently produces one missile per day, with plans to increase production to seven per day by October. This will allow Ukraine to match the output of Russian enterprises, which annually produce 2,400–3,000 cruise missiles of various types.
Analysts note that «Flamingo» is among the world leaders in cruise missile range and is capable of effectively overcoming modern air defense systems.