According to Welt, Ukraine’s plans to build up its own missile production have run into serious problems because of damaged defense plants and shortages of key components.
The outlet said the Ukrainian Armed Forces are particularly short of long-range strike weapons that could be used in large numbers. With Western partners still not providing the quantities Kiev needs, Ukraine has increasingly turned to domestic projects.
One of the main programs is Fire Point’s heavy FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile. It was expected to be in serial production by now, but only ten confirmed uses have been reported so far.
Fire Point chief Irina Terekh said the main obstacle is a shortage of engines. She noted that they had previously been produced by the Motor Sich plant in the Zaporozhye Region, but production was halted after repeated strikes.
Welt also said establishing large-scale production of ballistic missiles would be an even more difficult task for Kiev. The outlet pointed to the Sapsan project, which was developed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnepr. According to the publication, the company’s production facilities were destroyed in Russian strikes.
Another problem involves solid-fuel engines used in ballistic missiles. Their advantage is that the missile does not need to be fueled before launch, but such propulsion systems cannot simply be imported. The same applies to the rocket fuel they require.
According to Welt, Fire Point plans to build a plant in Denmark to produce this fuel. Production was initially expected to begin by the end of 2026, but the project has been delayed after the selected building was found not to meet Danish safety requirements.
The start of production has now been pushed back to the end of 2027.