{"id":698345,"date":"2026-11-04T07:40:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T07:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=698345"},"modified":"2026-11-04T07:40:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T07:40:00","slug":"ukraines-most-successful-missile-is-hitting-almost-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=698345","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine’s “Most Successful” Missile Is Hitting Almost Nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukraine’s “Most Successful” Missile Is Hitting Almost Nothing<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missile is missing roughly 85% of its targets<\/strong>. Manufactured by Fire Point, the FP-5<\/a> – advertised with a 3,000 km range and a 1,150 kg warhead – was hailed by Volodymyr Zelensky as Ukraine’s “most successful” missile when he touted<\/a> its initial tests. Yet an independent count tracks only about ten confirmed combat uses since August 2025<\/strong>, and analysts warn the true number of launches is likely higher given that failed strikes rarely receive coverage.<\/p>\n

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The missile’s best showing to date was the June 26\u201327 overnight strike on the Titan-Barrikady plant in Volgograd, where Ukrainian sources claim three of five launched missiles struck the facility. According to an analysis published by Defence Industry Europe<\/a>, that marked the first confirmed instance of multiple Flamingos hitting within the target area<\/strong>. In most other documented strikes, at most one missile connected. Across its last four confirmed uses, the weapon hit its target twice but inflicted little significant damage – a result the author attributes to missing the intended aimpoints.<\/p>\n

A separate OSINT tally cited by Ukrainska Pravda<\/a> tracked total launches rising from 23 to 39 over a two-month span, with confirmed hits ticking up from two to six. That translates to a hit rate of roughly 15%<\/strong>, though the Defence Industry Europe author cautions that the sample size remains “too limited for broad conclusions.”<\/p>\n

Production output is the other major gap. While Fire Point has boasted of building several missiles a day, the analysis notes that “overall production capacity still appears to fall short of the company’s stated ambitions”<\/strong> and dismisses claims of three missiles per day as exaggerated. Strike volleys remain small – capping at six missiles in a single attack – and the supply of the repurposed AI-25TL turbofan engines that power the weapon is murky. Fire Point is reportedly constructing its own engine plant, though its progress remains unknown.<\/p>\n

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FirePoint CEO Iryna Terekh<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rumors that Fire Point halted production altogether have been disputed. After an edited interview clip sparked claims that the missile was a hoax, CEO Iryna Terekh posted the full exchange on X. Fire Point maintains it is still producing the FP-5 and has no plans to abandon the project<\/strong>, according to Ukranews<\/a>. The company also disclosed in December<\/a> that it lost two major production facilities to Russian strikes\u2014though as we previously reported, Zelensky announced Flamingo strikes<\/a> on the Progress space center in Samara in August.<\/p>\n

Then there is the money. In August 2025, the Kyiv Independent reported<\/a> that Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) had opened a probe into Fire Point to investigate whether it inflated component costs, delivery numbers for its drones, or both. NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office clarified they were not investigating the Flamingo missile itself<\/strong>, according to New Voice of Ukraine<\/a>. Fire Point acknowledged the inquiry but dismissed it as rumor-driven and unrelated to businessman Timur Mindich. By the end of 2025, NABU had issued no formal suspicions<\/a> in the case.<\/p>\n

Mindich – a former co-owner of the Kvartal 95 studio and a figure in a separate Ukrainian corruption probe\u2014represents another thread. Fire Point co-owner Denys Shtillerman alleged that Mindich demanded a 50% stake in the company<\/strong>, as Komersant reported in December, while Babel reported<\/a> that Mindich sought to buy half the firm outright. Fire Point maintains the NABU probe has nothing to do with him.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, no charges have been filed against Fire Point, and no verified production figures have been made public.<\/strong> What remains on the public record is a missile launched dozens of times with only a handful of confirmed hits, alongside an unresolved ownership dispute.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
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Ukraine’s “Most Successful” Missile Is Hitting Almost Nothing Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missile is missing roughly 85% of its targets. Manufactured by Fire Point, the FP-5 – advertised with a 3,000 km range and a 1,150 kg warhead – was hailed by Volodymyr Zelensky as Ukraine’s “most successful” missile when he touted its initial tests. Yet… Continue reading Ukraine’s “Most Successful” Missile Is Hitting Almost Nothing<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-698345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-border-security","category-immigration","category-immigration-reform","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=698345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698345\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=698345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=698345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=698345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}