Ukraine is hoping to see production of its Flamingo ground-launched long-range cruise missile, which just broke cover this past weekend, ramp up significantly by the end of the year. Manufacturer Fire Point is aiming to have the capacity to make seven Flamingos every day by October, though there are questions about how realistic any expanded production goals might be. Reportedly with a range of 1,864 miles (3,000 kilometers) and a warhead weighing 2,535 pounds (1,150 kilograms), the missile presents a much farther-reaching and more destructive weapon than any missile or one-way-attack drone available to Ukraine now.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talked briefly about Flamingo during a sit-down with journalists yesterday. The Associated Press, which was first to reveal the missile’s existence, has also now reported additional details provided by Fire Point. Previous reports said that Flamingos have already been used in strikes on targets in Russia, but how many have been produced so far is not known.
“The tests of this missile were successful. And so far, it is the most successful missile we have – it flies 3,000 kilometers, which is important. I believe that we cannot talk much about it until we can use hundreds of missiles,” Zelensky said yesterday, according to Ukrainian outlet Ukrinform. “By December, we will have more of them. And by the end of December or in January-February, mass production should begin.”
Fire Point says it builds around one Flamingo every day now and is aiming to get that rate up to at least seven by October, according to the AP. Seven missiles per day would translate to 2,555 built annually. As an aside, something reportedly happened with the first production batch that caused the missiles to end up pink colored, which led to the Flamingo name.
New imagery published by the AP of the missile, seen below, also confirms that Flamingo is just a very large weapon, overall. We also now have a direct look at the warhead inside, which has a pointed front end that may indicate a design intended to offer increased penetration against harder targets. It is possible that the warhead could even be a repurposed air-dropped bomb.
With the new AP imagery in hand, experts and observers have drawn comparisons between what can be seen of the Flamingo’s engine and the AI-25TL turbofan, best known as the powerplant for the L-39 Albatros jet trainer. This would be a logical choice given that the AI-25 series was originally developed by Ivchenko in what was then Soviet Ukraine, and Ukrainian firm Motor Sich continues to produce versions today. Ukraine is also an operator of L-39s. The Albatros has been and continues to be a very popular design worldwide, with thousands made to date, opening up an additional avenue for sourcing engines.
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