The new Fire Point FP-5 Flamingo ground-launched cruise missile is just the thing Ukraine needs to extend its campaign of deep strikes deeper into Russia while inflicting more damage on critical targets such as oil refineries.
Or the FP-5 is made-in-Ukraine vaporware: a domestically developed weapon that mostly exists in marketing brochures.
There's reason to worry the latter is more likely.
Based on the available evidence, there have been just four Flamingo raids involving potentially just nine missiles and resulting in damage to two targets. Equally concerning, a recent lack of evidence indicates it's been two months since Ukrainian forces last fired a Flamingo in anger.
It's increasingly apparent Fire Point isn't delivering on its pledge to produce hundreds of Flamingos every month starting last fall. That could have serious implications for Ukraine's deep strike campaign, which Kyiv hopes will inflict enough economic damage on Russia to nudge Moscow toward a ceasefire or a lasting peace.
The Flamingo was a triumph of hype when Fire Point first showed the new missile to an Associated Press photographer back in August. Six tons of brute force firepower, the Flamingo purportedly ranges 3,000 km under inertial and satellite guidance to deliver a 1,000-kg warhead.
That would place the new missile in an entirely new range and weight class among Ukraine's many deep strike weapons, which include locally and foreign-made cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, long-range explosive drones, and even a few long-range drones that can drop bombs and then return to base.
Most Ukrainian deep strike munitions range no further than 1,000 km—and, when they do, typically carry small warheads potentially weighing just a few hundred kilograms. Smaller warheads inflict less damage, meaning repairs to the targeted facility are easier.
Best of all, Fire Point claimed, the Flamingo is simple and cheap, costing perhaps half a million dollars. Owing to its many off-the-shelf components, the Flamingo would be mass-producible on a tight timeline, Fire Point insisted last year.
Compelling pitch
The company's pitch was compelling. Denmark agreed to fund a rocket fuel production facility on Danish soil in order to facilitate an expansion of Flamingo production. Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joined Fire Point's advisory board.
So where's evidence of a ramp-up in missile production and deployment? If Ukrainian forces have been firing Flamingos in meaningful numbers in recent months, the missiles are—bizarrely—leaving behind no debris. It's typical for photos and videos depicting the wreckage of drones and missiles to circulate on social media in the aftermath of a Ukrainian or Russian deep strike.
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Observer Thorkill, who closely monitors social media for evidence of Flamingo usage, has confirmed just four raids—and none since November. He described the Flamingo as a "a certain marketing-propaganda hoax."
- On 13 November, the Ukrainians launched one Flamingo at a powerplant in Oryol in western Russia. It was shot down.
- On 23 September, four Flamingos targeted a factory in Belgorod in western Russia. One hit, destroying a production hall. A Russian Pantsir air-defense system shot down at least one of the missiles.
- On 30 August, Ukrainian forces fired three Flamingos at a Russian intelligence outpost and hovercraft base in Crimea. Two reached the target area. One narrowly missed and the other scored a hit on the outpost’s biggest building.
- The Ukrainian general staff claimed Ukrainian forces fired a Flamingo as part of a combat trial in May 2025, possibly targeting Russian forces in occupied Crimea. According to a Russian source, a Russian air force Mikoyan MiG-31 fighter shot down an unidentified cruise missile, potentially over the Black Sea, on 1 May.
It's worth noting that Fire Point isn't exactly scandal-free. The company has been under investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine for corruption and sheltering a draft-dodger.
According to The Kyiv Independent, NABU alleged that Timur Mindich—an ally of Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy—headed a group getting kickbacks from government contracts. Mindich allegedly has ties to Fire Point, although the company has denied it.
It’s a confusing and troubling mess. And while it’s obvious Fire Point does build effective weapons—the FP-1 and FP-2 attack drones stand out—it’s not yet clear the Flamingo is among them. For now, it may be mostly hype.
