Ukraine has announced plans to mass produce a new cruise missile capable of striking targets up to 3,000km away, bringing Moscow and parts of western Siberia within range. The weapon, named ‘Flamingo’, has been developed in secret by the Ukrainian defence company Fire Point and is said to carry a 1,150kg warhead with an accuracy of 14 metres.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Flamingo had been tested and proved to be “the most successful” missile in Ukraine’s arsenal. “By December, we’ll have more of them. And by the end of December or in January-February, mass production should begin,” he added. The missile is being produced at a rate of roughly one per day, with hopes to increase that to seven per day by October, according to staff at the plant.
The announcement comes after former US President Donald Trump suggested he would be open to Ukraine striking back at Russia, saying in a social media post: “It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders country. It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense.”
Sidharth Kaushal, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said the Flamingo is “longer-ranged and carries a heavier payload than any which Ukraine has used thus far”. He noted it could be used against “larger more resilient structures associated with defence industrial production, which also happen to be deeper within Russia”, citing the Yelabuga facility in Tatarstan, where Iranian Shahed-136 drones are produced, as a potential target.
Domestic missile production has become increasingly important for Ukraine, with over 40 per cent of weapons used by its troops now produced domestically, according to President Zelensky. More than 95 per cent of drones used on the battlefield are also made in Ukraine. The country has previously relied on Neptune anti-ship missiles, which sank the Russian cruiser Moskva in 2022, and the Hrim-2 ballistic missile with a range of around 500km.
The Flamingo’s name originated from a factory error that left the initial versions pink, a fact revealed by the Associated Press, which was granted exclusive access to the production facility. Dr Kaushal cautioned that Russia’s air defence network is well equipped to intercept cruise missiles such as the US-made Tomahawk, but the Flamingo’s range and payload could still pose a significant threat to deeper targets.
