Fire Point Reveals When Ukraine Will Be Able to Shoot Down Ballistic Missiles on Its Own
On June 17, Denis Shtilerman, chief engineer and co-owner of the Ukrainian company Fire Point, spoke about the development of the Freyja anti-ballistic shield. According to him, completing the tests and securing the necessary resources are essential for creating a system that will enable Ukraine to independently intercept ballistic missiles.
The FP-7.x interceptor missile is aerodynamically ready: it fully executes all control commands—precisely and aggressively, just as required to shoot down ballistic targets.
However, this is just one element of the future system. “I want to explain what stage the anti-ballistic shield is actually at—so that people don’t have to read about it in distorted accounts by certain media outlets,” the engineer wrote.
To actually intercept ballistic missiles, the missile still needs to be integrated with several components:
- a homing warhead from a leading European company;
- C2 command centers;
- a secure data link for target designation and correction commands that is resistant to electronic warfare jamming;
- integrated radars.
“We’ll be able to intercept ballistic missiles once we have the full system,” Stilerman emphasized. According to him, Fire Point is already working on each of these tasks together with its European partners.
Today, Fire Point and the German company Hensoldt signed an agreement to integrate TRML-4D radars into the Freyja system at the Eurosatory 2026 exhibition in Paris. This radar is capable of simultaneously tracking more than 1,500 targets at a range of up to 250 kilometers.
“We didn’t have enough radars to implement Freyja, but now we do, and we can move from concept to practical implementation of a pan-European anti-ballistic shield,” said Fire Point CEO Iryna Terekh.
The system is expected to be ready by the end of 2027. Freyja is designed as a cheaper alternative to the American Patriot system—the cost of a single missile is expected to remain below one million dollars.
Source: Denis Shtilerman
As a reminder, Ukrainian developers are working on creating a new air defense system called Freya, which is designed to intercept ballistic missiles and operate independently of other countries. At the same time, development is underway on the FP-9 ballistic missile system, which is being touted as a key element of future deterrence against Russia.
Testing of the new European Freya air defense system, which is described as a more affordable alternative to the American Patriot system, may begin in Ukraine in the near future.
