Mock-up of Fire Point's FP-7 ballistic missile with its information board on the company's stand at MSPO 2026

FP-7 Ballistic Missile: Ukraine Claims First Combat Use

by Max Grünwald | Oct 2, 2026 | Nachricht | 0 comments

Asked what Ukraine’s first FP-7 ballistic missile strike had hit, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s communications adviser gave the Kyiv Independent a three-word answer: “We’re not telling.” That is most of what is known about the strike.

On 1 October, Ukraine’s Defenders Day, Zelensky posted video of a night launch, declared the FP-7’s “First combat use” and added: “Next up: production.” He named no target, place or time. The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that the target was in occupied Ukraine.

The missile comes from Fire Point, the Kyiv company behind the FP-1 long-range strike drone and the FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile. It unveiled the FP-7 at the MSPO exhibition in Poland in September 2025 and released video of its first flight test in February 2026, seven months before the claimed combat debut.

Kurzinfo

Waffe — FP-7 tactical ballistic missile, built by Fire Point

Angekündigt — 1 October 2026, by President Volodymyr Zelensky

Ziel — Not disclosed; the Wall Street Journal reports it was in occupied Ukraine

Claimed range — Up to 250 km (155 miles), per Fire Point

Claimed payload — 200 kg (441 lb); top speed 1,500 m/s (3,355 mph)

Design basis — External layout of the Soviet-era 48N6 interceptor

Verification — None independent; production numbers undisclosed

A Strike Nobody Will Describe

None of it has been independently verified. Defense Express judged that the launch probably took place on the night of 30 September to 1 October, and said neither the target nor the result was known.

Michael Kofman of the Carnegie Endowment told the Journal the debut was a positive development, but that much depended on the specifics and on the rate of production. He added that even the missile’s range and accuracy were unclear.

President Zelensky’s post of 1 October 2026 announcing the FP-7’s first combat use, with video of a night launch.

The announcement also helps clear up a September puzzle. When Zelensky listed a weapon called the Pelican among those used against Moscow, early Ukrainian reports took it for the FP-7; military sources later described it as a long-range drone, the Guardian reported. A first combat use on 1 October fits that account.

What Fire Point Claims

Fire Point’s product page lists a 200 kg (441 lb) payload, a range of up to 250 km (155 miles), a top speed of 1,500 m/s (3,355 mph), a peak altitude of up to 60 km (37 miles) and 14 m (46 ft) accuracy. None of it can be independently checked, and the company does not say how the accuracy was measured.

The numbers have moved. At the 2025 unveiling Fire Point quoted 200 km (124 miles), a 150 kg (331 lb) warhead and 250 seconds of flight; in a September interview chief executive Iryna Terekh spoke of up to 300 km (186 miles), UNITED24 Media reported. On guidance, Fire Point has said little beyond that its flight-control and targeting systems are Ukrainian-made.

“A homemade ballistic missile made in record time under fire was used on the battlefield.”

Iryna Terekh — Chief Executive, Fire Point (to The Wall Street Journal, 1 October 2026)

Outside, the FP-7 borrows the outline of the Soviet-era 48N6, the interceptor of Russia’s S-300 and S-400 air-defence systems. Fire Point has described it as a clone of the 48N6’s external layout only, with a composite body, new electronics and Ukrainian solid propellant inside. It is launched hot, off an inclined rail on a trailer.

Short of ATACMS, Far Short of Iskander

Fire Point pitches the FP-7 as a cost-effective alternative to the American ATACMS, Ukraine’s main ballistic strike weapon, and co-founder Denys Shtilerman has said it costs roughly half as much. On paper it gives a little away: ATACMS reaches about 300 km (186 miles) with unitary warheads of 213 kg (470 lb) or 247 kg (545 lb) and GPS-aided inertial guidance.

Russia’s Iskander-M is in another class: 400 to 500 km (250–310 miles) with a 480–700 kg (1,060–1,540 lb) warhead, inertial, GLONASS and optical terminal guidance, and two rounds per eight-wheel MZKT launcher. On Fire Point’s own numbers, the FP-7 has roughly half the reach and well under half the warhead.

Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile climbing away from its launcher in a cloud of smoke over a snowy test range — An Iskander-M lifts off during a combat-launch exercise at Kapustin Yar, Russia, on 2 March 2018. The Russian missile flies up to 500 km (310 miles) with a warhead of up to 700 kg. Photo: Mil.ru / CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Russia has the volume, too. Zelensky said in June that Russia builds about 120 ballistic missiles a month; in July alone it fired 195 ballistic and hypersonic missiles, a wartime record, according to the Journal. Ukraine’s only reliable answer remains scarce Patriot interceptors.

Why Airfields Should Pay Attention

Air-defence sites and airfields figure prominently in analysts’ lists of likely targets. TWZ names air-defence sites, logistics hubs and drone bases. Nazarii Barchuk of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center told the Kyiv Independent it was meant for radars, air-defence systems and missile launchers, and for “airfields within the missile’s range.”

Speed is what makes that list credible. Russia has often blunted drone raids on its airfields by flying aircraft out before the slow drones arrive, the Kyiv Independent has reported; Fire Point claims a flight time of 300 seconds or less. When Ukraine first fired ATACMS, in October 2023, it hit helicopter bases at Berdyansk and Luhansk, destroying 14 helicopters by a British Defence Intelligence count.

US Army M57A1 ATACMS tactical ballistic missile leaving the launch pod of an M142 HIMARS truck — An M57A1 ATACMS leaves an M142 HIMARS launcher. Fire Point pitches the FP-7 as a cheaper alternative to the American missile. Photo: U.S. Army / public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Next Up: Production

Shtilerman said in a March interview that two or three ballistic missiles a month “makes no sense” and would not affect the front. Terekh puts Fire Point’s spending on FP-7 development and preparation for initial production at about $200 million.

Kyiv has not said how many FP-7s exist or how fast they are being made. Fire Point’s solid-propellant plant in Denmark, meant for FP-7 motors and Flamingo boosters at 800 to more than 4,000 missiles a year, is not due to start production until the end of 2027.

TVP World’s Ukraine Brief for 1 October 2026 covers Zelensky’s FP-7 announcement alongside the day’s other news from Ukraine.

Nor is the FP-7 Kyiv’s first home-grown ballistic claim: Zelensky said in December 2025 that Ukraine had begun using the Sapsan, though the Kyiv Independent says evidence of its widespread production has remained elusive. Next from Fire Point is the FP-9, quoted at up to 850 km (528 miles) with a warhead of up to 800 kg (1,764 lb), which Terekh expects to complete development by the end of autumn.

The FP-7’s faster derivative, the FP-7.X, is the interceptor at the heart of Freyja, the European anti-ballistic programme Ukraine launched with nine partners in July. If Freyja works, a missile family that began with the outline of a Soviet interceptor will be back in the interception business.

Sources: Volodymyr Zelensky on X and Telegram, 1 October 2026; Reuters, 1 October 2026; The Wall Street Journal, 1 October 2026; Kyiv Independent, 1 October 2026 and 13 September 2026; TWZ, 1 October 2026; Defence Blog, 1 October 2026; Defense Express, 1 October 2026 and 28 February 2026; Militarnyi, 1 October 2026; Ukrainska Pravda, 1 October 2026; RBC-Ukraine, 1 October 2026; Kyiv Post, 1 October 2026; UNITED24 Media, 24 November 2025, 25 August 2026, 10 September 2026 and 30 September 2026; The Guardian, 20 September 2026 and 2 October 2026; Fire Point FP-7 product page, accessed 2 October 2026; CSIS Missile Defense Project, Missile Threat (ATACMS and Iskander entries); Wikipedia (MGM-140 ATACMS; 9K720 Iskander)

Häufig gestellte Fragen

What is the FP-7 ballistic missile?

The FP-7 is a tactical ballistic missile built by Fire Point, the Kyiv company behind the FP-1 long-range strike drone and the FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile. Fire Point claims a range of up to 250 km (155 miles), a 200 kg (441 lb) payload, a top speed of 1,500 m/s and 14 m accuracy. None of these figures can be independently checked.

What did the FP-7 hit in its first combat use?

Ukraine has not said. Asked what the missile struck, President Zelensky’s communications adviser told the Kyiv Independent: “We’re not telling.” The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that the target was in occupied Ukraine. Zelensky announced the first combat use on 1 October 2026, and the result has not been independently verified.

How does the FP-7 compare with ATACMS?

Fire Point pitches the FP-7 as a cost-effective alternative to the American ATACMS, and co-founder Denys Shtilerman has said it costs roughly half as much. On published figures the FP-7 gives a little away: ATACMS reaches about 300 km (186 miles) with unitary warheads of 213 kg or 247 kg, against the FP-7’s claimed 250 km and 200 kg.

How does the FP-7 compare with the Russian Iskander-M?

The Iskander-M is in another class. It flies 400 to 500 km (250 to 310 miles) with a 480 to 700 kg warhead and combines inertial, GLONASS and optical terminal guidance. On Fire Point’s own numbers, the FP-7 has roughly half the reach and well under half the warhead, and Russia builds about 120 ballistic missiles a month, according to Zelensky.

Is the FP-7 a copy of the Russian S-400 missile?

Only on the outside. The FP-7 borrows the outline of the Soviet-era 48N6, the interceptor of Russia’s S-300 and S-400 air-defence systems. Fire Point has described it as a clone of the 48N6’s external layout only, with a composite body, new electronics and Ukrainian solid propellant inside, launched hot off an inclined rail on a trailer.

Is the FP-7 the same weapon as the Ukrainian Pelican?

Apparently not. When Zelensky listed a weapon called the Pelican among those used against Moscow in September 2026, early Ukrainian reports took it for the FP-7. Military sources later described the Pelican as a long-range drone, the Guardian reported. Zelensky announced the FP-7’s first combat use on 1 October 2026.