The Ukrainian ballistic missile FP-7 has passed combat use, but its mass use in the current version is economically inexpedient. This was stated by the co-owner and chief designer of the manufacturer Fire Point, Denis Stillerman.
The missile's production line operates serially, but the company is redirecting resources to other platforms for the delivery of the warhead. “Flamingo is manufactured to order, is used, shows results, is already in series. FP-7 has passed combat use“, said Stillerman.
Price changes the choice of weapon
One FP-7 missile costs about 600 thousand dollars. It can deliver a warhead weighing about 200 kilograms to a distance of up to 300 kilometers and is cheaper than the American ATACMS missiles.
According to Stillerman, however, Fire Point has a cheaper way to accomplish the same task. The FP-2 unmanned aerial vehicle also carries a warhead weighing about 200 kilograms, but the cost to deliver it to the specified distance is approximately $ 50,000.
“Delivering 200 kg to 300 km for $ 600,000 when you can do it for $ 50,000,“, said Dennis Stillerman.He explained that the ballistic missile must have a very strong body, which leaves less room for explosives in a standard warhead. An exception would be a version with a cluster warhead.
„For the same money we can send 16 FP-2s, which will carry 16 times more warheads and will perform 16 times more missions“, added the co-owner of Fire Point.
The cluster version can change the score
Stillerman indicated that the economic sense of more active use of the FP-7 may be restored after the completion of the codification and official acceptance of the armament of a modification with a cluster warhead. At the moment, no deadline has been specified for the completion of this procedure.
The FP-7 is a tactical ballistic missile with a range of up to 300 kilometers and a declared deviation from the target of up to 15 meters. Its first combat launch over Russian territory was carried out in October.
FP-9 is in the final stage of testing
Meanwhile, the newer FP-9 model is undergoing final testing. Fire Point expects the missile to be used in combat conditions in the near future.
Thus, the company keeps the ballistic line under development, but places the FP-7 in a more limited role until the version with a cluster warhead is ready. For other tasks, the cheaper FP-2 drones have priority.
Sources: focus-news.net, zn.ua