This year, the company's revenue was approximately $1 billion.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has joined the advisory board of the Ukrainian defense company Fire Point, the manufacturer of the "Flamingo" missiles. According to the Associated Press, the company has established an advisory board and appointed Pompeo as a member. Additionally, three other individuals will join the board of directors. The company's Chief Technical Officer Irina Terekh stated that Fire Point has also commissioned a large international company to conduct an independent audit of pricing and production.
Critics, however, point to the opaque origins of the company and its monopoly on contracts with the Ministry of Defense, as well as alleged connections to President Volodymyr Zelensky's associate Timur Mindich, who is embroiled in a major corruption scandal, AP reports.
The publication also notes that Fire Point aims to expand its production of cruise missiles, planning to more than double its current capacity, and is building a rocket fuel plant in Denmark.
This year, the company's revenue was approximately $1 billion.
According to company executives, Fire Point has successfully tested the Flamingo on the battlefield at least four times. At the end of August, the missile was used to strike an FSB base in Armyansk in occupied Crimea. Last week, the missile was used to target locations in the Russian city of Oryol. The company did not disclose information about its current production capacities, citing security concerns, but stated that production is proceeding as planned.
Testing and refinement is an ongoing process, said the head of the company's design department, Maxim.
"For now, we are conducting training launches, as our missiles were produced only six months ago. We are currently conducting training, but targeting objects in Russia and Crimea," he said. According to him, workers conducted a simulated missile launch, this time painted black, which will be used in a future mission.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the Ukrainian "Flamingo" missile has had successful combat applications. Le Figaro reported that the missile was used 9 times in real operations.
At the same time, expert Pavel Narozhny notes that the claimed range of the "Flamingo" missile at 3000 km is quite realistic, but it has other issues related to technology. According to him, for the missile to be less detectable on radar, it must fly at an altitude of up to 50 m, but the navigation system of the "Flamingo" does not allow for this.
