Ukrainian photojournalist Yefrem Lukatsky published photos on Facebook of the Flamingo cruise missile and said its range exceeds 3,000 kilometers. He said the missiles were seen in a workshop of one of Ukraine’s leading defense companies, Fire Point, and had already entered serial production.
Ukrainian media reported the missile’s presumed specifications as a 1,000-kilogram warhead, a launch weight of 6 tons, a 6-meter wingspan, a speed of up to 900 kilometers per hour, and a combined guidance system using satellite and inertial components.
Military analyst Pavel Aksenov of the BBC Russian Service told Novaya-Europe that the missile’s main advantage could be its relatively low cost despite its long range and heavy warhead. In his view, the concept relies on mass production to force Russia to spend more on interceptions than Ukraine does on launches.
Military expert and retired Ukrainian colonel Roman Svitan told the outlet that Flamingo follows a standard cruise-missile layout and uses a Ukrainian-made twin-circuit turbojet engine, a Ukrainian warhead, and its own guidance system. He also said the missile was effectively developed on the basis of the Tu-141 Strizh drone.
Svitan estimated the cost of a pre-production missile at 3-4 million euros, adding that the price could fall to about 1 million euros once industrial output begins, provided production reaches at least 50 missiles a month. Aksenov, however, said the missile would likely be radar-visible and vulnerable to advanced air defenses because of its size and design, though mass launches alongside drones and decoys could complicate interception.