Fire Point Nears Ukraine's 1st Domestic Ballistic Missile as Drone Output Reaches 400 a Day
Updated
Updated · CBS New York · Sep 8
Fire Point Nears Ukraine's 1st Domestic Ballistic Missile as Drone Output Reaches 400 a Day
1 articles · Updated · CBS New York · Sep 8
Summary
Months from deployment, Fire Point says it is preparing Ukraine's first domestically designed and manufactured ballistic missile, a weapon harder to intercept because it flies a high arc trajectory.
300 to 400 long-range attack drones now roll off its lines each day, up from an initial goal of 20 a month, as Ukraine pushes to answer Russia's missile and Shahed-style drone attacks.
1,000 miles was the range of a Fire Point cruise-missile mission in June, which CEO Iryna Terekh called the longest combat cruise-missile strike ever; she also said Fire Point weapons made up 60% of Ukraine's 2026 launches.
2022's invasion helped turn civilian founders into arms makers, and Fire Point is part of a wider Ukrainian startup defense sector that has shifted the country from aid recipient toward military-tech producer.
2025 brought U.S. interest in that model through its LUCAS drone program, and Washington and Kyiv are expected to sign a deal expanding Ukrainian military-tech exports and joint ventures.
Will cheap, domestically built cruise missiles and open-source tech render traditional military-industrial complexes obsolete?
How did a 34-year-old architect bypass the global defense industry to build a massive missile empire from scratch?
Can a decentralized network of 83 secret factories survive prolonged wartime attacks while producing thousands of lethal drones?
Ukraine’s 2026 Defense Revolution: Domestic Ballistic Missiles, Drone Mass Production, and the Battle for Strategic Autonomy
Overview
In autumn 2026, Ukraine achieved a major milestone by deploying its first domestically developed ballistic missiles, the FP-7 and FP-9, created by Fire Point. This breakthrough gave Ukraine a rapid, independent strike capability beyond Western restrictions and was made possible by adapting Soviet-era missile designs, using lightweight materials, and adopting open-source software for guidance. At the same time, Ukraine’s drone industry scaled to millions of units annually, making drones the main cause of battlefield casualties. Facing relentless Russian missile attacks, Ukraine’s defense sector shifted to a distributed manufacturing model, integrating many local contractors and even moving critical production to Denmark for safety. These innovations, combined with new European partnerships, have transformed Ukraine’s defense industry and reshaped the war’s strategic balance.