Ukraine's Fire Point aims to produce ballistic missile interceptor by year-end

KYIV, June 25 - Ukraine's Fire Point, maker of the Flamingo cruise missile, is accelerating plans to develop a European missile defence system after an agreement with German radar maker Hensoldt and hopes to have its first interceptors ready by the end of the year.

Fire Point, which is using its own FP-7X rocket as the interceptor missile, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Munich-based company last week, which will provide radar for the ballistic missile defence system, using its TRML-4D high-performance radar.

Denys Shtilierman, Fire Point's co-founder and chief designer, said the company was in the process of signing an agreement with a European defence firm to provide the imaging infrared (IIR) homing device for the interceptor missile.

Talks are also underway with another European firm to furnish a radio frequency (RF) seeker, which allows an interceptor missile to track targets using electromagnetic signals, Shtilierman said. He did not give the companies' names.

A global shortage of ballistic missile defences is one of Ukraine's most pressing challenges in its four-year war with Russia. Demand for missile defences has increased from the U.S. and its allies following the Iran war, while production of U.S.-made Patriot missiles — the most effective system — has not kept pace with Russia's output of ballistic missiles, which it uses to pound Ukrainian cities, infrastructure and military sites.

Last week Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed an agreement with Germany to jointly develop a European ballistic missile defence project. He invited other European countries to join the initiative, adding that Fire Point would participate.

SEEKING MORE EUROPEAN ENGAGEMENT

Shtilierman said stronger political commitment from European countries has accelerated the timeline for the project, codenamed Freyja, which he had told Reuters in April would not be ready before the end of next year.

"Something changed: our government and a lot of other European governments, for example the German government, connected to the initiative," he told Reuters. "If, for example, every European government starts moving swiftly, we can do interceptors by the end of this year."

"It all depends on the speed of movement of European bureaucracies."

Completing the system would require European partners to provide a sophisticated data uplink to relay real-time target data from the radars to the interceptor missile, as well as a command-and-control centre, Shtilierman said.

For years, European manufacturers have struggled to develop an effective ballistic missile defence.

Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told local Radio NV last month that the SAMP/T missile defence system produced by European missile manufacturer MBDA had not yet proven capable of downing ballistic missiles in combat in Ukraine.

UKRAINE NIMBLER ON TESTING

Shtilierman said wartime conditions in Ukraine, where the government had stripped away onerous regulations, allowed the company to press ahead far more quickly than European counterparts with testing.

"How many months must you spend in Europe on this? Maybe from six months to a year. We need one day," he said.

Fire Point is currently awaiting approval from European governments to start testing its interceptor missiles with the radar system, Shtilierman said.

Hensoldt did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fire Point is on track to start flying tests over the summer for its new FP-9 ballistic missile, capable of carrying an 800-kg warhead up to 850 km, Shtilierman said. Battlefield tests for the munition, which would place Moscow in range of Ukrainian ballistics, are expected by the autumn, he said.

Discussions with a Middle Eastern investor to take a $760-million, 30% stake in Fire Point are no longer active because the company's valuation has risen beyond their offer.

Shtilierman said a more recent offer from a "prominent investment bank" for a small number of shares in Fire Point valued the company at $5.8 billion. He did not provide further details. REUTERS