Fire Point says Ukraine’s FP-7 ballistic missile nears combat testing

According to Terekh, the FP-7 project has successfully completed two of three testing stages.

"So we expect this to become operational very soon. We're talking weeks, not months or anything like that," Terekh said.

The FP-9 missile is currently undergoing flight testing.

"Since this is a very long-range ballistic missile, stage two will probably slowly transition into stage three because there isn't enough space in Ukraine to actually test it. And perhaps we'll have to start testing it directly on the enemy," the company representative said.

She also outlined the stages of missile testing. The first stage involves ground and laboratory testing of each system and subsystem separately, such as the rocket engine or various guidance systems. This is followed by flight testing in Ukraine.

Military testing then begins.

"It takes place as part of the codification process, but it can also be called military deployment, and that is also a process we need to go through," the company representative said.

The FP-9 ballistic missile reportedly has a range of more than 800 kilometers (about 500 miles) and has been described as a Ukrainian counterpart to the U.S.-made ATACMS.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously said the first combat use of a Ukrainian ballistic missile could take place as early as this fall.