Celebrating what is good news for the strengthening of its arsenal, Ukraine has confirmed the development and production of the Flamingo, the new cruise missile with a range of 3,000 kilometers to equip its Armed Forces. In particular, the news has already been confirmed by the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Denys Shmyhal, who, without revealing further details regarding the characteristics of the missile or the planned numbers, indicated that his country has already begun producing them to combat the Russian invasion.
It should be remembered in this regard that the acquisition of new indigenous weaponry of these characteristics had long been awaited by Kyiv, with previous local reports allowing speculation about the development of the Flamingo missile. The first to echo this was journalist Efrem Lukatsky, who yesterday published the first images of it along with the description indicating its supposed range; these showed one of these specimens in one of the plants of the Fire Point company.
Already during the course of today, Ukrainian media also published new videos in which the new weaponry was reportedly being used against Russian positions, being deployed from a rail platform mounted on trailers. They further added that each Flamingo warhead would have an estimated weight of 1,150 kilograms, although in the absence of official details this should be taken with caution; Minister Shmyhal himself hinted that his country would share more details once “the right time comes.”
Subsequently, analysts from the specialized outlet The War Zone pointed out in their reports that the new Flamingo could be a design practically identical to the missile known as FP-5, which was presented by the company Milanion, which had previously supplied equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. If this assumption proves correct, we would be facing a missile with a range also situated at 3,000 kilometers and capable of reaching maximum speeds of up to 950 km/h. In terms of warhead weight, the values would also be close to those reported by local sources, as it would stand at about 1,000 kilograms.
It is also important to mention that, if these capabilities can be officially verified, Ukrainian troops would have a weapon capable of reaching all major cities in western and central Russia, including the capital Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as parts of the distant lands of Siberia. These are highly significant capabilities, even more so considering that the current Storm Shadow, Neptune, and ATACMS missiles in the country’s arsenal are far from achieving such ranges, just like its different types of loitering munitions in service.
Cover image credits: Efrem Lukatsky
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