by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
(Worthy News) – Ukraine has used a domestically produced ballistic missile in combat for the first time, marking a significant expansion of Kyiv’s ability to strike heavily defended Russian targets with weapons built inside Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Thursday that the FP-7 tactical ballistic missile had made its combat debut.
“Ukrainian tactical ballistic missile FP-7. First combat use,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “Thank you for the result. Next — production.” He did not disclose the target. Reuters reported that Ukrainian military analysts estimate the missile’s range at roughly 200 kilometers, or 125 miles.
The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the operation, reported that the missile struck a target in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. The FP-7 is manufactured by Ukrainian defense company Fire Point, which says the missile can reach an altitude of roughly 37 miles and has a range of about 155 miles while carrying a warhead weighing more than 440 pounds.
A Weapon Much Harder to Stop
The development is significant because ballistic missiles travel at extremely high speeds along steep trajectories, giving air-defense systems far less time to detect and intercept them than slower cruise missiles and drones.
Ukraine has relied heavily on long-range drones to attack Russian military facilities and energy infrastructure, but ballistic missiles carry substantially larger warheads and could give Kyiv greater ability to strike hardened targets such as bunkers, bridges, command centers and fortified military installations.
Russia has held a major advantage in this category throughout the war, regularly launching Iskander and other ballistic missiles against Ukraine. Kyiv has depended heavily on U.S.-supplied Patriot systems to counter those attacks while facing limited stocks of expensive interceptor missiles.
The FP-7 could begin narrowing that capability gap, although its battlefield impact will depend heavily on how quickly Ukraine can manufacture the missile in significant numbers.
The development also underscores the rapid transformation of Ukraine’s defense industry since Russia’s full-scale invasion. Fire Point is simultaneously developing the longer-range FP-9, which company officials say could eventually reach targets up to roughly 850 kilometers — about 528 miles — away.
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