FP-5 Flamingo

Fire Point, a Ukrainian defence startup founded by a group of friends from non-military backgrounds—including construction, game design, and architecture—began development of the FP-5 "Flamingo" following the 2022 Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.^[4] The missile was first publicly revealed on 17 August 2025 by Associated Press photojournalist Efrem Lukatsky during a test launch at a hidden facility in southern Ukraine.^[7] In his address on 20 August 2025, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that serial production had begun and described it as "the most successful missile we have".^[6][4][8] The Associated Press reported that the nickname "Flamingo" originated when early production units of the missile had a pink colour due to an error at the factory,^[4] but this was denied by Fire Point's CTO.^[9] The Economist and Politico on the other hand reported that the name was chosen to highlight the role of women in senior positions at the company, with test prototypes being painted pink to support the name.^[8][10]

Reporters and OSINT analysts have noted the striking similarity between the FP-5 Flamingo and the FP-5 missile advertised by defence industry startup Milanion Group at IDEX 2025 (a defence industry conference and expo), with the advertised capabilities, design and even the model number being identical.^{[11][12][13][14]} Milanion Group is a company registered in the United Kingdom,^[15] though media reports state it is based in the United Arab Emirates and did business in Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion.^[16][17][18] An analyst has described Fire Point as operating under Milanion's umbrella, using Milanion's technology and connections to produce the FP-5 locally.^[19][12] The Economist assessed that the production process is partially conducted abroad, with Fire Point stating that over 90% of final assembly is done in Ukraine.^[10]

According to Ukrinform, the weapon threatens 90% of Russia’s arms manufacturing capacities.^[20] Possible target categories:

• Oil refineries and energy infrastructure – Fire Point officials noted their drones and missiles are "partly responsible for airport closures and high gasoline prices in Russia".
• Military production facilities and weapons depots – described as targets for the missile's 1,150 kg (2,540 lb) warhead.
• Command centers and strategic infrastructure – identified as priority targets given the missile's capabilities.

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

The missile has a fixed straight wing and a turbofan jet engine mounted above the fuselage. This gives it a superficial resemblance to the V-1 flying bomb and the Ukrainian-built Soviet Tu-141 and Tu-143 reconnaissance drones, although the V1 used a pulsejet and the Tu-141 and Tu-143 were designed with engines mounted inside the main fuselage. The rear of the fuselage has four flight control surfaces in an X-configuration.^[21] The monocoque fuselage is primarily built with filament-wound (as used in ballistic missiles) radar transparent composite materials (fiberglass),^[2] and the engine nacelle is built from metal in order to withstand high temperatures. The jet engine appears to be the Ivchenko AI-25, designed in the 1960s in the Soviet Union and used to power the Aero L-39 Albatros aircraft, later produced by Ukrainian manufacturer Motor Sich. The engine is significantly larger than those found in comparable cruise missiles.

Flamingo's warhead is claimed to be 2.5 times the weight of the warhead of the American Tomahawk Block V cruise missile, with a stated weight of 1,150 kg (2,540 lb).^[5][8][22] According to a Dutch military expert interviewed by UkrInform, Flamingo is a classic aerial bomb converted into a cruise missile by adding a jet engine, fuselage, and wings.^[23] The warhead, shown in pictures with the nose cone removed, may be a repurposed FAB-1500 bomb,^[7][23][24] but based on the warhead's size the 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) FAB-1500 seems unlikely, with a more likely bomb being either a 925 kg (2,039 lb) Mark 84 high-explosive bomb or a same-weight BLU-109/B bunker buster.^[14][2] If the missile uses a conventional gravity bomb, the weight of the warhead would be 925 kg (2,039 lb) but the explosive filler would only be 430 kg (950 lb), more in line with comparable cruise missile systems.^[25][26] The Flamingo's claimed range is approximately twice the unclassified range of the Tomahawk Block V,^[22] allowing it to hit targets anywhere in the European part of Russia and as far as Novosibirsk, but it had not been shown to strike targets at this range as of June 2026^[update].

The Flamingo claims a similar speed to its Western counterparts, 900 km/h, but does not have complex visual guidance systems (TERCOM, DSMAC); the primary means of navigation is by satellite navigation using a jamming-resistant, controlled reception pattern antenna layout. Claimed accuracy is a CEP of 14 m (46 ft) in ideal conditions at any range. The simplified design is intended to speed production. The main drawbacks compared to the Tomahawk are a longer pre-launch preparation time of 20 to 40 minutes and a takeoff weight that is almost 5 times greater.^{[4][27][28][29]} Ukrainian experts state that Russian air defense will intercept some FP-5 missiles, and emphasize the value of combined strikes by multiple weapons types.^[20]

The Czech crowdfunding initiative "Gift for Putin" ("Dárek pro Putina") raised approximately $520,000 (roughly 12.5 million Czech koruna) to purchase a Ukrainian-built Flamingo cruise missile in October 2025.^[30] The fundraiser, which was completed in approximately 48 hours after launching on October 22, 2025, was organized to purchase a single missile specifically priced by the manufacturer Fire Point for the campaign.^[30] The missile, designated DANA 1 in honor of the late Czech nuclear safety chief Dana Drábová, was to be transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine upon completion of payment, but in November 2025, the organizers suspended the deal over a corruption investigation involving Fire Point.^[30][31][32]

This fundraising campaign provides a concrete cost estimate for individual Flamingo missiles. Multiple independent sources have corroborated similar price points, with estimates ranging from approximately $500,000 to under €1 million ($1.09 million) per unit.^[33][34][35] Fire Point spokesperson Iryna Terekh has emphasized that the company "purposefully aimed for low cost" to enable large-scale procurement and potentially massive strike operations.^[34]

By comparison, the American Tomahawk cruise missile costs between $1.5 million and $2.5 million per unit depending on the variant, despite having approximately half the range and a significantly smaller warhead than the Flamingo.^[35][33][36] The Flamingo's affordability is achieved through simplified design choices, including the use of repurposed Soviet-era AI-25TL turbofan engines from Aero L-39 Albatros jet trainers, a carbon-fiber fuselage that can reportedly be manufactured in six hours, and basic inertial navigation systems that trade off some precision to reduce the cost.^[35]

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Serial production of Flamingo was claimed to have begun in mid-2025, initially at a rate of approximately 30 missiles per month.^[6] According to Politico's August 2025 interview with Fire Point CEO Iryna Terekh, the missile had successfully completed battlefield trials, and entered serial production with a target capacity of 200 units monthly.^[8][37] Fire Point announced in September 2025 that it had increased production of its Flamingo cruise missile from 30 units per month in August to 50, with plans to reach seven missiles per day by the end of the year. Terekh confirmed that the Flamingo had entered serial production, with scaling up being the primary focus for meeting expanded production targets.^[37]

The weapon system provides Ukraine's most advanced long-range strike capability.

In September 2025, the Danish government announced that a subsidiary of Fire Point would start production of solid rocket fuel for the Flamingo in Denmark from 1 December 2025.^[38][39] Denmark temporarily suspended 20 laws and regulations to open the plant.^[40]

Fire Point had purchased a large number of Ivchenko AI-25 engines with a remaining flight time of some 10 hours from various stockpiles. They restore the engines enough for a Flamingo missile's flight time of three and a half hours, although not suitable for normal more prolonged use. Previous media reports said that the engines had been made by Motor Sich, but Fire Point said that they had found "thousands of such engines" at landfills in Ukraine. Titanium parts were replaced by "cheaper and easier-to-produce alternatives" adequate to make them flightworthy. Engines can also be taken from about 6,000 still in use in aircraft such as the L-39 Albatross and Hongdu JL-8 jet trainers across "post-Soviet countries, Asia, and Africa". Fire Point has also established its own plant to produce missile engines; it is not clear if this is the Ivchenko AI-25 under licence.

Fire Point does not manufacture the warhead, which is said to be able to "pierce thick concrete", with ground penetration of some 10 m (33 ft) "Many types" of warhead, including cluster warheads, were reported to be in development. As of "early September 2025" the rate of production was two missiles a day, with work on an automated process that aims to "reach 200 per month by the end of this year".^[41][42]

In early December 2025, during an interview on X, formerly Twitter, Denys Shtilerman (co-owner and chief designer of Fire Point) said that a Flamingo missile had been intercepted on 9 October at a height of 114 meters. The aim was to fly at an "altitude of 30 to 40 meters above the ground", so "no one will see it from the ground". This would bring it in line with "TERCOM system, which has been in operation since the late 1980s". However Ukraine does not have maps of the Russian Federation suitable to allow the missile to fly so low.^[43]

As of 15 March 2026, Fire Point claimed to manufacture three Flamingos per day. New engines were close to completion to replace the current AI-25 engines used. According to Denys Shtilerman, the company's chief designer and co-founder: "All the engines (AI-25) we use now were previously used in civil aviation. Their peak efficiency is roughly between 6,000 and 10,000 meters, so they are not very effective at sea level". The new engines will be a dual-circuit turbojet engine with a low bypass ratio, unlike most cruise missile engines; the company claims that performance will be exceeded only by the Tomahawk missile. In 2025 the new engines were planned to enter production by a Ukrainian manufacturer at the beginning of the following year.^[44]

In June 2026 Diehl Defence announced an interest in manufacturing the missile with an uprated seeker and guidance system.^[45][46]

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

In May 2026 Ukrainska Pravda published an analysis of all publicly known FP-5 attacks from the first in August 2025 to March 2026, documenting 23 launches, of which six were not shot down and reached their target, and two (plus one disputed case) successfully hit it.^[47] Not every launch is expected to be successful; Ukrainian officials have confirmed that multiple missiles were required in attacks to enable one to hit.^[48]

On 30 August 2025, Ukrainian sources reported that Flamingo missiles were used to target a Federal Security Service outpost in Crimea, in what was described as their first combat use. According to these reports, at least three missiles struck the facility, causing structural damage and reportedly damaging six hovercraft and killing one Russian serviceman.^[49][50] Follow-up analysis of satellite imagery showed that one missile directly hit a barracks building, another landed wide of the hovercraft storage area, and a third exploded near some objects east of the facility.^[51][52]

On 23 September 2025, four Flamingo missiles struck a factory belonging to the Skif-M company, which manufactures components for the production of the Su-34, Su-35, and Su-57 aircraft. Initially it was reported by Russia that only one missile had hit, but satellite imagery in January showed that all missiles struck the factory. However, one missile appeared to have penetrated the roof and exited through a wall, exploding outside the factory.^[53] The blast crater was approximately 25 metres wide.

On 9 October 2025, Russia and the Ukrainian president confirmed the first use of the Flamingo missile, used along with the Neptune missile, against targets in Russia.^[54]

On 10 October 2025, Russia claimed to have shot down two Flamingo missiles, one by a Buk missile, in its first interception. Pictures were supplied but without verifiable evidence; the FP-5 was said to have been flying at 100 m (330 ft) altitude at a speed of "roughly 600 kilometers per hour".^[55]

On 23 December 2025, President Zelenskyy referred to undated use of the Flamingo missile: "The Flamingo percentage has now improved. There was a recent use, it was that they used five missiles: one destroyed the target, four were shot down by Russian air defense".^[56]

On 8 February 2026, the Ukrainian General Staff claimed to have struck the Russian test range at Kapustin Yar using FP-5 Flamingo missiles.^[57]

On 12 February 2026, a Russian Main Missile and Artillery Directorate ammunition depot, near Kotluban, Volgograd Oblast, was attacked by Flamingo missiles resulting in a "series of powerful explosions" and precautionary evacuations of local people according to Governor of Volgograd Oblast Andrey Bocharov.^[58][59]

On 15 February 2026, President Zelenskyy said that the production of Flamingo missiles had been affected due to the "destruction of a production line" by a Russian missile strike. Due to this Ukraine did not have "many" Flamingo missiles, but production had resumed.^[60]

On 20 February 2026, Ukraine's General Staff stated a strike of Flamingo missiles targeted the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant 1,400km (870 miles) from Ukraine, which produces Iskander ballistic missiles.^[61] Udmurt regional head Alexander Brechalov said one of the republic's facilities was attacked by drones, and unofficial reports specified the site as the Votkinsk Plant.^[62]

On 28 March 2026, Flamingo missiles struck the JSC Promsintez explosives plant in Chapaevsk, Samara Oblast.^[63] Subsequent satellite images showed that the attack "achieved accurate terminal approach but failed to deliver direct structural penetration of the production halls". One missile was shot down "at the last moment", a second struck a lightning rod tower and the third missile detonated close potentially causing "minor peripheral damage".^[64]

On 5 May 2026 Zelenskyy tweeted that Ukraine's armed forces had used F-5 Flamingos to conduct strikes against targets 1500 km inside Russia, including military-industrial facilities in Cheboksary.^[65] The JSC VNIIR-Progress missile plant in Cheboksary was attacked with video on social media showing a large fire. The plant manufactures the Kometa antenna, used in guided missiles and electronic warfare systems. Russian milbloggers and OSINT analysts claimed a FP-5 Flamingo missile was used during the attack. Footage online showed "a large blast followed by sustained fire". Officials said that at least four Liutyi drones followed up the attack.^[66][67]

On 10 June 2026, the VNIIR-Progress plant in Cheboksary came under further Flamingo missile attack. Local people reported a "powerful explosion" after the impact, with a plume of smoke over the building.^[68][69] Zelenskyy confirmed the use of Flamingo FP-5 missiles.^[70] The attack is thought to have been carried out by five missiles, two of which were shot down near Chuvashia and one near the target at Cheboksary, with two striking the target. Radar and local people detected the missiles at the beginning of their flight path, over several Russian regions, and on their final approach, which passed Cheboksary itself and reached the VNIIR-Progress plant from the east. This could "indicate the use of routes bypassing large population centers and areas with dense radar coverage."^[71]

Related development

• FP-1 (unmanned aerial vehicle) – Ukrainian long-range one-way attack dronePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• UJ-25 Skyline – Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle
• Peklo – Ukrainian loitering munition
• UJ-26 Bober (drone) – Ukrainian long-range UAV
• AN-196 Liutyi – Ukrainian long-range UAV
• Palianytsia (missile) – Ukrainian cruise missile
• R-360 Neptune – Ukrainian family of cruise missiles
• Trembita (cruise missile) – Ukrainian cruise missile

Comparable missiles

• MGM-13 Mace – US cruise missile
• AGM-86 ALCM – US cruise missile
• BGM-109G Gryphon – US cruise missile
• Novator 9M729 – Russian cruise missile