A Ukrainian-made drone attack on a Russian ammunition depot last September demonstrated Kyiv’s ability to strike deep behind enemy lines, a feat particularly gratifying for Iryna Terekh, head of production at Fire Point.
Her company manufactured the drones that flew over 1,000 kilometres (620 miles), subsequently curtailing Russia’s devastating glide bomb attacks on her native city of Kharkiv.
Iryna Terekh, head of production at Fire Point, highlighted aerial warfare for Ukraine, stating: “Fighting in the air is our only real asymmetric advantage on the battlefield at the moment.
“We don’t have as much manpower or money as they have.”
Her comments came as she surveyed dozens of “deep-strike drones” from the assembly line, destined for Ukrainian forces to target Russian military and economic sites.
Driven by its existential struggle against Russia and constrained Western aid, Ukraine has rapidly become a global hub for defence innovation. The nation aims to match, if not outmuscle, Russia’s capabilities, with Fire Point leading the way.
The Associated Press was granted an exclusive look inside one of Fire Point’s dozens of covert factories.
In a sprawling warehouse where rock music blared, executives showed off their signature FP-1 exploding drones that can travel up to 1,600 kilometers (994 miles).
They also touted publicly for the first time a cruise missile they are developing that is capable of traveling 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles), and which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes will be mass-produced by the end of the year.
Even as US President Donald Trump presses for an end to the war — and dangles the prospect of US support for NATO-like security guarantees — Ukrainian defense officials say their country is determined to become more self-sufficient in deterring Russia.
“We believe our best guarantee is not relying on somebody’s will to protect us, but rather our ability to protect ourselves,” said Arsen Zhumadilov, the head of the country’s arms procurement agency.
Ukraine’s government is now purchasing about $10 billion of weapons annually from domestic manufacturers. The industry has the capacity to sell triple that amount, officials say, and they believe sales to European allies could help it reach such potential in a matter of years.
Like most defense companies in Ukraine, Fire Point grew out of necessity after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Despite pleas from Ukrainian military officials, Western countries were unwilling to allow Kyiv to use their allies’ longer-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.
That’s when a group of close friends, experts from various fields, set out to mass-produce inexpensive drones that could match the potency of Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia was firing into Ukraine with devastating consequences.
