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In a historic milestone for Ukrainian defense manufacturing, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has officially confirmed the first combat deployment of the FP-7 "Pelican" tactical ballistic missile. Developed domestically by Fire Point, the solid-fueled FP-7 travels at Mach 4.3 over ranges up to 250 km, offering a cost-effective alternative to Western ATACMS free from foreign targeting restrictions. Discover how the FP-7 Pelican, the FP-7.X anti-ballistic interceptor (Project Freyja), and the upcoming 850 km FP-9 missile are reshaping standoff warfare over Eastern Europe.
⏱️ CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Zelenskyy Confirms FP-7 "Pelican" First Combat Launch
01:46 - Initial Strike Targets & 15-Launch Testing Certification
06:41 - Bypassing Western ATACMS Restrictions & Sovereign Ballistic Parity
09:15 - Technical Specs & Cost Matrix: FP-7 vs. US ATACMS
11:25 - Project Freyja & The FP-7.X Air Defense Interceptor Variant
13:31 - The FP-9 Strategic Variant: 850km Range & Moscow in Scope
14:47 - European Deep-Strike Hierarchy & Winter Infrastructure Defense
Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join
#militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis
#themilitaryshow
SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/eq8SwCKB
In a historic milestone for Ukrainian defense manufacturing, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has officially confirmed the first combat deployment of the FP-7 "Pelican" tactical ballistic missile. Developed domestically by Fire Point, the solid-fueled FP-7 travels at Mach 4.3 over ranges up to 250 km, offering a cost-effective alternative to Western ATACMS free from foreign targeting restrictions. Discover how the FP-7 Pelican, the FP-7.X anti-ballistic interceptor (Project Freyja), and the upcoming 850 km FP-9 missile are reshaping standoff warfare over Eastern Europe.
⏱️ CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Zelenskyy Confirms FP-7 "Pelican" First Combat Launch
01:46 - Initial Strike Targets & 15-Launch Testing Certification
06:41 - Bypassing Western ATACMS Restrictions & Sovereign Ballistic Parity
09:15 - Technical Specs & Cost Matrix: FP-7 vs. US ATACMS
11:25 - Project Freyja & The FP-7.X Air Defense Interceptor Variant
13:31 - The FP-9 Strategic Variant: 850km Range & Moscow in Scope
14:47 - European Deep-Strike Hierarchy & Winter Infrastructure Defense
Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join
#militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis
#themilitaryshow
SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/eq8SwCKB
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NewsTranscript
00:01It was never supposed to come to this.
00:03Ukraine was never meant to be able to hit Russia with its own weapons,
00:07never mind developing a weapon so powerful that it rivals what Russia has been sending into Ukraine.
00:13But what Ukraine has unleashed on Russia is devastating, war-shattering.
00:18A true turning point has come, as for the first time ever,
00:22Ukraine has homegrown ballistic missiles in its arsenal.
00:26That's according to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky,
00:30who took to Telegram on October 1st to officially confirm something that has been rumoured for a while.
00:35The FP7 is here, and it's just had its first use in combat.
00:40Zelensky kept his message short and sweet, only stating,
00:44Ukrainian tactical ballistics, FP7, first combat use.
00:48Thank you for the result. Next. Production. Glory to Ukraine.
00:52Along with the announcement, he shared a short video.
00:55We see the FP7 launching into the jet black sky,
00:58leaving behind it a thunderous chorus of noise as it begins streaking towards its target.
01:04The light that it generates becoming a pinprick as the missile rises higher.
01:08Then the video ends.
01:10We don't see the devastation that the FP7 wrought.
01:13Zelensky wasn't about to confirm what Ukraine struck,
01:16or even exactly when the missile launched.
01:18Likely to preserve operational secrecy.
01:21Although it could just be to keep Putin guessing.
01:23Ukraine's President kept quiet about the location of the launch and the outcome of the strike.
01:28Zelensky feels the message is enough.
01:30The FP7 streaking into the sky will be enough to strike terror into Kremlin hearts.
01:35Still, we may have some hints about what happened with this FP7 launch and we're about to reveal them.
01:40Before we do, if you're enjoying the video, consider subscribing and let us know your thoughts below.
01:45You can also become a channeled member for access to exclusive content we don't publish publicly.
01:50Though Zelensky hasn't revealed anything, there are rumours already emerging about what Ukraine's first combat use of the FP7 means,
01:58and where the missile struck.
01:59In an October 1st follow-up piece, the Wall Street Journal claimed to have spoken to somebody familiar with the
02:04matter.
02:05That source revealed that Ukraine used its new ballistic missile against a target within the occupied territories,
02:11suggesting a strike against Donetsk, Luhansk, or perhaps even occupied Crimea.
02:15But nothing more was said. What Ukraine hit remains a mystery for now.
02:20It's a mystery that will boggle Russian minds.
02:23But frankly, Putin and his cronies should have seen something like this coming.
02:27After all, the emergence of the FP7 onto the battlefield has been preceded by warnings aplenty,
02:32one of which was particularly prophetic and came from Zelensky himself.
02:36On August 9th, the Kyiv Post reported that Zelensky had told the world that he expected the FP7 to be
02:42ready for combat use at some point during the fall.
02:45By that point, Ukraine's ballistic missile had already undergone 15 test launches,
02:50and was undergoing its final certification by Ukraine's defence ministry.
02:55Fast forward about two months, and Zelensky was proven to be right on the money.
02:59The fall has arrived. The FP7 came with it.
03:02What comes next is up in the air.
03:04We would assume mass production is sure to follow, especially now that Ukraine's new ballistic missile is combat proven.
03:09However, even back in August, Zelensky was cautioning against the belief that FP7s will start rolling off the production lines
03:16in their thousands.
03:17When we talk about mass application, we must know that there must be a supply of large number of such
03:22elements from other countries.
03:24Therefore, it depends on readiness, contracts, payments and many different things, Ukraine's president said at the time.
03:30However, Zelensky also declared that production would be the next step for the FP7 when announcing its first use in
03:35combat.
03:36What that means in terms of how many Ukraine will build per month and how it will handle production remains
03:41to be seen.
03:42However, the missile's manufacturer, Firepoint, has the sort of industry connections that could enable it to build plenty of these
03:48missiles.
03:49The company, which is perhaps best known for the FP5 Flamingo, along with several others,
03:55has already started working with European partners to manufacture its weapons.
03:58For instance, the German arms manufacturer, Diehl, announced plans to start production of the Flamingo alongside Firepoint back in the
04:06summer.
04:06Could we see a similar deal struck for the FP7 production?
04:10Again, only time will tell.
04:11But at this point, something may be bugging you.
04:14Didn't you hear something about Ukraine using the FP7 just a couple of short weeks ago?
04:18You did.
04:19And it was Zelensky who dropped a mention of the weapon in the wake of a record-breaking Ukrainian attack
04:24against Moscow.
04:25We take you back to September 20th, when Zelensky took the X to hail Ukraine for a massive strike against
04:31Moscow and several other Russian territories.
04:33The systems used included the FP1, RZ-100, MISH-2000, Palianizia, Vendetta, Liuchi, Bars, Flamingo, Sichem, and Pelican, Zelensky declared.
04:45You may think you didn't hear a mention of the FP7, but you did.
04:49Ukraine's new ballistic missile also has the moniker Pelican,
04:53keeping up with Firepoint's propensity for sticking to a bird-based naming convention.
04:57So questions have to be asked.
04:59Chief among them, was Zelensky lying or otherwise misinformed about the use of the FP7 back in September?
05:05We don't think that he was.
05:07Remember, Zelensky didn't reveal when or where the combat use of the FP7 took place in his October 1st post.
05:13He only said that it had happened and he provided footage of the launch.
05:16Plus, the attack against Moscow wasn't limited to Russia's capital.
05:20Ukraine struck all over Russia and the occupied territories during its September strike.
05:25Perhaps what we saw on September 20th was Zelensky dropping a little hint that he went on to confirm a
05:30couple of weeks later.
05:32If that's the case, it means we can narrow down the first use of the FP7 to September.
05:37Still, Ukraine isn't saying much.
05:38It's revealing just enough to make the Kremlin worry.
05:41And the Kremlin should be very worried.
05:44What we've just seen in Zelensky's small statement is a war-shattering announcement
05:48that could change the entire tone of the deep strike aspect of the conflict.
05:52This is Ukraine telling the world that not only does it have ballistic missiles,
05:56but it's actively using them against Russia.
05:59This is a coming-out party for a weapon that Ukraine was never meant to have.
06:02Ukraine has been actively working to domesticate as much of its weapons production as possible,
06:07but for years that has meant the development of drones both short and long-ranged.
06:12Russia has experienced plenty of pain due to those drones,
06:15especially with Ukraine's non-stop strikes against oil refineries
06:19that had cost Russia about 45% of its refining capacity by September 21st.
06:24But as damaging as those strikes have been,
06:26Ukraine has carried them out with long-range weapons that can travel immense distances
06:30but deliver fairly limited amounts of firepower to their targets.
06:34All of that just changed.
06:36Ukrainian ballistic missiles have just entered the game,
06:39and Ukraine doesn't have to rely on the likes of the US to provide them any more.
06:43The freedom and strike potential that comes with this domestic production can't be overstated.
06:48Prior to the FB-7's first usage, Ukraine was somewhat limited in terms of how it could use ballistic missiles.
06:55For a start, the missiles it had all came from its Western partners,
06:59such as the Atakums provided by the US,
07:01and the Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles given to Ukraine by the UK and France.
07:05Useful weapons, sure.
07:07But Ukraine only got what those nations could spare,
07:09and these missiles came with conditions.
07:11The US-made Atakums, in particular,
07:13could only be used against a Russian target if the US approved the launch.
07:17We saw the issues related to this arrangement back in August 2025,
07:21when the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Pentagon had quietly put a new Atakums approval process in place
07:27that essentially blocked Ukraine from using Atakums inside Russia.
07:31Ukraine's strike potential had been politicized.
07:34But that's all changed now.
07:36Ukraine has been pushing hard to close the ballistic missile divide,
07:39knowing that this is the one area of the war where Russia still has a clear advantage.
07:43According to the Kyiv Independent, Russia fired 1,858 missiles of various types at Ukraine between the start of 2026
07:52and August 27th,
07:54and more have come since.
07:56Ukraine needed to level the playing field.
07:58Now that the FP7 is officially airborne, it's taken a massive step toward doing just that.
08:03The next task to handle will be an increase in production.
08:06Russia is still ahead there, as Zelensky revealed back in June that Russia is building ballistic missiles at a rate
08:11of about 120 every single month.
08:14Ukraine isn't at that point yet.
08:16Production at scale for the FP7 is still in the very early stages.
08:19But as Putin makes his plan to focus on long-range strikes over the winter,
08:23in an attempt to force Ukraine to surrender clear, the arrival of the FP7 couldn't be timely.
08:29Russian strikes won't be stopped by this weapon, but now that the FP7 is proven in combat,
08:34Ukraine has a weapon that it can use to deliver just as much ballistic pain to Russia as Putin wants
08:39to inflict on Ukraine.
08:41How much pain are we talking about?
08:43To answer that question, we need to take a closer look at what the FP7 brings to the table.
08:47But before we do that, this is a quick reminder that you're watching the military show.
08:51If you haven't subscribed and enabled notifications yet, now's the perfect time to do both before we move on.
08:58So what do we know about the FP7?
09:00Starting with the basics, the Kyiv Post claims that Ukraine's new ballistic missile
09:04is intended to be a cost-effective alternative to the Atakums that doesn't come with usage strings attached.
09:10Firepoint's founder and chief designer Denis Stieleman has actively compared his company's new missile to Atakums,
09:17noting that the FP7 costs about half as much as the American missile.
09:22Those statements allow us to roughly estimate how much it costs Ukraine to build and launch the FP7.
09:27According to the BBC, a single Atakums costs around $1.5 million.
09:32That puts the price per unit of the FP7 at around $750,000.
09:36Still expensive, especially when compared to drones, but cheap enough for Ukraine to manufacture large enough quantities of the missile
09:43to do some real damage to Russia.
09:45Continuing the comparison, the Atakums and FP7 stack up pretty closely in terms of their technical specifications.
09:52The US-made missile can carry a single warhead weighing between 160 and 560 kg, depending on the block.
09:59It also has a range of between 165 and 300 km, making it ideal for use against Russian positions in
10:07the occupied territories as well as on the Russian border regions.
10:11FP7 is similar and in some ways superior to Atakums.
10:14According to Firepoint, the FP7 has a range of 250 km and can carry a 200 kg warhead.
10:20That puts the Ukrainian missile right in the middle of the two blocks of the Atakums and marks it out
10:25as being usable against the same types of targets.
10:28We know that the FP7 is launched from a ground-based platform, as we saw in Zelensky's video.
10:34Firepoint claims this platform offers high strategic flexibility, mobility and the ability to deploy rapidly, suggesting that it's portable and
10:42easy to deploy.
10:43The FP7 is also fast. Really fast.
10:47The missile is capable of reaching a top speed of Mach 4.3 and can reach a maximum altitude of
10:5260 km.
10:54Firepoint hasn't revealed much about the missile's guidance system, though it's supposedly accurate within 14 meters of its intended strike
11:01point.
11:02It's clear that Ukraine has a powerful weapon on its hands, albeit one that doesn't quite rival some of Russia's
11:07ballistic missiles such as the Iskander,
11:09but something that can match up to Russia's more impressive ballistic missiles is coming.
11:13We'll tell you more about that in a moment.
11:14First, the FP7 is impressive for reasons other than its basic technical specifications.
11:20The version of the missile that Zelensky announced is the FP7 used for strikes against Russian targets.
11:25There is another version, the FP7X.
11:28According to the Warzone, Firepoint is using the basic architecture of the FP7 to develop an air defense variant named
11:35the FP7X.
11:36This other missile is intended to be Ukraine's answer to the Patriot, meaning it will be used as an anti
11:42-ballistic missile interceptor.
11:44We've already seen that Ukraine is testing this air defense focused version of the FP7.
11:48Back in June, we saw footage of a test launch of the missile, which Ukraine hopes will help it solve
11:54its air defense issues.
11:55The FP7X is also part of Project Freya, which is a joint European effort to develop a ballistic missile interceptor.
12:02Firepoint is going to be developing the missiles while other European countries provide support and other technology.
12:08Perhaps here we see a route toward mass production of the FP7.
12:12Firepoint has already talked about producing FP7X at the rate of thousands of missiles every year.
12:18Presumably, that can happen with the support of Ukraine's Project Freya partners,
12:22meaning Ukraine will be able to get its hands on the components needed to build the missiles.
12:26If the FP7 is the basis for the FP7X, then we can assume that whatever support enables the manufacturer of
12:33the latter will also allow Ukraine to build more of the former.
12:36This is a double whammy for Russia.
12:38Not only has Ukraine announced its first official combat use of a ballistic missile that was conceived, designed and built
12:45in Ukraine,
12:45but it's also bringing a new missile interceptor to the war.
12:48Russia faces a future where Ukraine can hit it harder than ever before and potentially overcome the long-range strategy
12:55Putin believes can win Russia the war.
12:58Speaking of the future, we come to the question of what all of this means for the war in Ukraine.
13:02We touched on a little something that Ukraine has in store for Russia beyond the FP7.
13:07If this new ballistic missile is designed for tactical strikes against Russian positions in the occupied and border regions,
13:14the other weapon that Firepoint is developing will bring long-range ballistic parity to the war.
13:20That weapon is the FP9.
13:22And with the FP7 now combat ready, Firepoint can pour all of its effort into getting the FP9 over the
13:27line.
13:28The FP9, like the FP7, is a ballistic missile.
13:31However, it brings a lot more range and firepower to the war than the missile that Ukraine has just used
13:36for the first time in combat.
13:38According to Firepoint, the FP9 features a conventional design and is capable of traveling up to 850 kilometers.
13:45That puts a lot of targets inside Russia within its scope of operation, up to and including the Russian capital
13:51city of Moscow.
13:52That 850 kilometers of range also comes with 800 kilograms of explosive firepower,
13:58making the FP9 about four times as powerful as the FP7.
14:03And based on Firepoint using the same description of the FP9 launch platform as the FP7,
14:08we can assume that Ukraine will be able to launch this longer-ranged ballistic missile from almost anywhere that it
14:13wants.
14:14The FP9 isn't here yet, but it's coming soon.
14:17In an October 3rd interview with Reuters,
14:19Zelensky revealed that the FP9 will be ready at some point during the fall.
14:23In fact, it was the first thing that he asked about when the FP7 was made official.
14:28I said to them,
14:29Where is my FP9?
14:30Zelensky reveals, adding,
14:32We need the FP9, and the FP9 will be ready this autumn, I'm sure.
14:36If Russia is worried about the FP7, it will be terrified of the FP9.
14:40And it's coming sooner than anybody thought.
14:43What we're seeing in all of this is that Ukraine is developing a deep strike arsenal that is the envy
14:47of Europe.
14:48That's according to Wes O'Donnell, who points out in a September 23rd article that Ukraine is building a layered series
14:54of domestic long-range weapons that can strike almost anywhere inside Russia and the occupied territories.
15:00He isn't wrong.
15:01Ukraine now has the FP7 and a growing collection of middle strike drones for taking out targets in the occupied
15:06and border regions.
15:08On the long-range front, Ukraine has drones that can strike literally thousands of kilometers deep into Russia, as we
15:14saw back in July, when Ukraine carried out a 2,500-kilometer drone strike against the Omsk oil refinery in
15:21Siberia.
15:21The FP9 will soon be joining that long-range arsenal.
15:25Ukraine now possesses the most effective deep strike complex in Europe behind Russia itself.
15:30Maybe not the largest, not the most expensive, but the most combat-proven, O'Donnell declares.
15:36It's difficult to argue against him.
15:38In the immediate future, Ukraine's first use of the FP7 also lends credibility to something that it has declared as
15:44Russia gears up for an intensification of its own long-range strategy in the winter.
15:48On October 3rd, the Moscow Times reported that Ukraine has identified Russia's plans for the winter.
15:54Ukraine knows that attacks on civilian infrastructure are coming, including attacks on logistics and energy infrastructure.
16:01These strikes will focus on Ukraine's major cities, Zelensky says, and Russia's goal is to create terror and force people
16:08to evacuate from their homes.
16:09Ukraine's response, its president says, will be more strikes against Russian oil refineries.
16:14There will be no direct targeting of civilians, Zelensky declares, but Ukraine will double down on attacks against refineries, which
16:21will be a serious problem for the Kremlin, given that it's already lost 45% of Russia's refining capacity.
16:28Will the FP7 be part of these refinery strikes?
16:31It seems unlikely, as most of Russia's operational refineries seem to be outside of the new ballistic missile's range.
16:38However, plenty of those refineries are in the range of the FP9, which is supposed to be coming this fall.
16:44Russia now faces a future where it no longer has things all its own way when it comes to ballistic
16:48missiles.
16:49The FP7 is here, and it's being used in combat.
16:52The FP7X and the FP9 are coming likely very soon.
16:57Ukraine is becoming a ballistic powerhouse in its own right.
17:00Russia wasn't ready for any of this.
17:02But it's coming, and there's nothing that Putin can do to stop it.
17:05Earlier in the video, we suggested that Ukraine's first use of the FP7 may have happened during the country's record
17:11-breaking strike against Moscow in September.
17:13You want to find out more about this strike?
17:15Well, our video goes on a deep dive into what happened and what it all means.
17:19So make checking it out your next port of call.
17:21Before you go, everything you see here is researched, verified, and produced by real people.
17:27If you value that, subscribe, comment below, and consider becoming a member for access to exclusive content.
17:33And thank you, as always, for watching.