Zelenskyy announced that the FP-9 ballistic missile, capable of reaching Moscow, will be ready this autumn
In the second half of October, Ukraine will also receive the first batch of small and inexpensive air defense missiles, capable of destroying new "Shaheds".
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Telegram channel
This week, Ukraine reported the first combat use of its domestically produced FP-7 ballistic missile, which has a flight range of about 250 km.
Zelenskyy told Reuters that he called the manufacturer, Fire Point, to urge its management to create a longer-range model — the FP-9, which the company claims can reach Moscow.
“I told them: where is my FP-9? — Zelenskyy said with a smile. — We need FP-9. And FP-9 will be ready this autumn, I am sure.”
Since summer, Moscow has started launching dozens of fast and relatively inexpensive "Shahed" jet drones daily at Ukraine. Ukrainian air defense forces found it difficult to cope with them, as their own interceptor drones were too slow to catch up.
Zelenskyy reported that Ukraine was forced to rely on its fighter jets — F-16s and MiGs — to shoot down about 60% of Russian jet drones, but stockpiles of 20mm ammunition for these aircraft are running low.
Kyiv is urgently working on other solutions, including building up electronic jamming capabilities.
In the second half of October, the country will receive the first batch of small and inexpensive air defense missiles, capable of destroying new "Shaheds".
Last week, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is developing five models of new interceptor drones capable of shooting down "Shahed" jet drones. After meeting with his military leadership, he reported that tests of two of these models showed a modest success rate of about 30%.
“We will need to scale this,” he said. “I hope that with all these things, all these elements, we will find a way out.”