Photo: The flight of the “Flamingo” (Fire Point) cruise missile
Ukraine’s new Flamingo cruise missile, produced by firm Fire Point, outperforms the US Tomahawk on some publicly claimed measures, The Independent reports.
According to the outlet, Flamingo has a declared range of about 3,000 km and a warhead weighing roughly 1 tonne, compared with roughly 1,500 km range and a ~500 kg warhead for the Tomahawk. The missile is said to use a Soviet‑era turboprop engine and to cruise at roughly 850–900 km/h, with top speeds up to 950 km/h.
Despite using older Soviet technology in parts, Fire Point says the missile combines those systems with modern design and can be produced at a unit cost comparable to the Tomahawk. Ukrainian officials and the company emphasise that the weapons are controlled solely by Ukraine’s armed forces, meaning allied partners would not be able to limit their use in strikes deep inside Russian territory — a restriction that has been applied to some western‑supplied systems.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine now produces more than 60% of its long‑range weapons, and Fire Point has announced plans to move to serial production of Flamingo by year‑end following successful tests.
Publicly stated technical data (claims):
- Range: 3,000 km
- Flight time: >4 hours
- Max speed: up to 950 km/h
- Cruise speed: ≈850–900 km/h
- Wingspan: 6 m
- Max takeoff weight: ≈6 t
- Warhead weight: ≈1 t
Experts caution that these figures are company‑ and government‑declared and require independent verification. If confirmed, however, the missile would represent a significant expansion of Ukraine’s indigenous long‑range strike capability.
