Fire Point to Increase FP-2 Strike Drone Warhead to 158 kg

The Ukrainian company Fire Point is working to increase the warhead weight of its FP-2 strike drones to 158 kilograms while maintaining a flight range of 200 km.

Denys Shtilerman, co-founder and chief designer of Fire Point, stated this in an interview with Army TV.

To achieve this increase, the company developed a fuel tank integrated inside the drone’s wing. The design is currently undergoing codification by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

The upgrade will also allow the FP-1 long-range strike drone to carry a heavier warhead, increasing it from the current 50–60 kilograms to 105 kilograms.

According to the chief designer, the company does not manufacture the warheads itself but orders them from external contractors. At the same time, every twentieth munition is opened and inspected to verify the quality of the production batch.

“We closely monitor quality, because if you fill it with some unclear explosive, like C-4, it may detonate poorly. When the detonation wave travels through the explosive, any voids can instantly reduce its effectiveness,” he emphasized.

According to him, the military requirement for the warhead was the ability to penetrate 15 centimeters of concrete without destroying the warhead casing.

In addition, the company is working to reduce the cost of its drones. It claims to have found certain solutions that could eliminate the need for expensive anti-jamming CRPA antennas and GNSS receivers, which are designed to resist electronic warfare.

The company has also implemented optical navigation using a relatively inexpensive night camera, which should allow the drone to fly and hit targets without relying on GPS.

“This could be the eventual solution, I hope, because during this time we have gone through about seven generations of different navigation systems. We are constantly evolving. Right now, we conduct at least four FP-2 test flights every day,” the designer said.

At the end of February, Fire Point conducted flight tests of its new FP-7 operational-tactical ballistic missile.

In an interview with Army TV, Denys Shtilerman said that combat testing of the new ballistic missiles will begin soon.

“Well, we will be testing them on our neighbors,” he said.

The FP-7 has a declared strike range of up to 200 km with a 150-kg warhead, and a maximum range of up to 300 km with a smaller warhead.

The missile’s maximum stated speed is 1,500 m/s, and its circular error probable (CEP), meaning 50% of missiles are expected to land within this radius, is 14 meters.