Ukraine successfully tests new interceptor at one-fifth the price of a Patriot. Developer says mass production could begin as soon as August, if German supplier can deliver key component.

Ukrainian arms maker Fire Point has completed its first flight test of a new interceptor missile, the FP-7.x, which it developed as a lower-cost alternative to Patriot interceptor missiles, the Financial Times reported. Denis Shtilerman, Fire Point’s chief designer, described the test as “pretty successful.”

The FP-7.x is designed to engage ballistic missiles and drones. A single missile costs about $700,000 — against $3.8 million for a Patriot PAC-3 missile, according to U.S. Army budget estimates for 2026.

Shtilerman said mass production could begin as early as August, provided Fire Point secures an infrared seeker head from the German firm Diehl Defence. The first missiles could be ready by 2027, he said.

The FP-7.x is the missile component of the Freyja air defense system. The rest of the Freyja system — target-detection and tracking radars and a command-and-control system — will be supplied to Ukraine by European partners.

Fire Point is one of the largest contractors for the Ukrainian military. The company has developed the FP-1 long-range strike drone and the FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile, neither of which has entered mass production. The Flamingo is known to have struck Russian targets only a handful of times.

The Kyiv Independent has reported on ties between Fire Point and Tymur Mindich, describing him as a co-owner of Kvartal 95 Studio and a close associate of President Volodymyr Zelensky. Mindich is at the center of an embezzlement case involving Energoatom, the Ukrainian state energy company. He left Ukraine before police raids began in the case.