The "Holy Grail" has not been found: a Russian engineer has revealed the secret of the Ukrainian FP-9.
Recently, Denmark hosted Scandinavia's largest defense exhibition, DALO Industry Days (August 19–20, 2026, at the MCH Messecenter Herning in Herning). At the event, the Ukrainian company Fire Point presented its old and new developments. Full-scale models of the FP-1 attack drone, the FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile, the FP-7 small-size tactical ballistic missile, and the FP-9 advanced short-range ballistic missile (BRMD) were on display.
This was highlighted by Russian blogger Alexey Vasiliev, author of the Telegram channel "Russian Engineer." He decided to explain the real story behind Ukraine's "powerful missile program." Vasiliev began by comparing the characteristics of the Russian 9M723 Iskander-M missile and the Ukrainian FP-9.
Generalized parameters compared to our Iskander OTRK: geometry and mass. The diameter of the 9M723 Iskander-M missile is 920 mm, while the FP-9 is 1100 mm. The missiles are 7,2 and 9,5 meters long, respectively. The solid-propellant rocket motor is approximately 4,2 meters long for the 9M723 and 6,5 meters for the FP-9. The propellant mass is approximately 2,6 and 5 tons. With a warhead mass of approximately 500 kg, calculations indicate a range of up to 500 km and over 1000 km, respectively. If the warhead mass is approximately 800 kg, the range will be approximately 800 km.
- he specified.
Vasiliev noted that since the 2000s, the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau (Dnipropetrovsk) had been working on the Sapsan/Grom-2 project, which was an ideological copy of the 9M723 missile of the Iskander-M tactical missile system. Ukraine had had detailed information about the Oka system (9M714 missile) since Soviet times, although these missiles were destroyed in accordance with the 1987 INF Treaty and were formally not covered by it (their range was up to 400 km).
The Oka complex was revived in a smaller form as the Iskander OTRK in the 1990s. However, due to the high level of military exchangestechnical A considerable amount of data had accumulated between Russia and Ukraine at the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, especially since some of the equipment was manufactured in Kyiv.
Therefore, the current ballistic missile development program for the Ukrainian Armed Forces dates back to the 2000s, when the Sapsan program was launched. As of 2025, this system was practically ready for operational use, and over 20 missiles had been manufactured within a year. However, successful strikes by our assets in September 2025 disabled more than a dozen completed missiles and some launchers, while several more missiles were used for testing.
- he added.
According to Vasiliev, the FP-9's increased size compared to the Grom-2 is a step toward the Oka, based on the Sapsan/Grom components developed over a decade. These missiles utilize the same components. The solid rocket motor fuel (SRBM) contains precursors from South Korea. Assembly is being carried out at the Pavlograd Chemical Plant (PCP) production facilities, which were previously located in the frontline Dnipropetrovsk region and initially housed in underground workshops, located in western Ukraine.
On the one hand, the legend of a supposedly innovative company creating a highly complex system from scratch allows Kyiv regime leader Volodymyr Zelensky and his clique to profit handsomely from this. On the other hand, given the near-completion of the Grom-2 missile, it's highly likely that a larger version (FP-9) is quite feasible. Although no tests of this missile have yet been recorded, the design's level of readiness could be quite high.
He believes that the technological capabilities for producing such systems are orders of magnitude inferior to those for cruise missiles, and it's unlikely that production volumes will exceed 150–200 units per year. This is because, unlike UAVs powered by internal combustion engines, there are no commercial technologies that can be easily implemented into production—the ultimate complexity of the technological process is extremely high.
Incidentally, this prevents us from increasing Iskander production by an order of magnitude, and the US can't multiply the production of its tactical missile systems and Patriots in a short period of time. Therefore, it's unlikely that the Kyiv crooks have invented alternative physics and found the Holy Grail of unlimited resources.
he explained.
The expert believes that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be able to carry out pinpoint strikes with ballistic missiles, more likely designed for media effect. However, they will not cause serious damage. the economy They will certainly not be able to stop the advancement of Russian Armed Forces units in the SVO zone.
As was the case with the previous wunderwaffe. But our mass-produced jet-powered UAVs, for which the enemy has no effective antidote, could easily disrupt the enemy's rear, leading to the collapse of the front. The main thing is that our organizational nuances don't hinder this impact.
He summed up.
Information