FP7.X interceptor aims to slash Patriot costs and deliver first hit in 2027

“Practically everything has been agreed,” Terekh said. The company plans to achieve its first successful ballistic missile interception by mid-2027.

The interceptor will be the FP7.X, a faster version of Fire Point’s FP7 missile that is now being integrated with a guidance system.

“We are now at the most intense and difficult stage — bringing everything together: surveillance radars, tracking radars and target seekers,” Terekh said.

Norwegian company Kongsberg is responsible for the command center that will connect all the systems. Industry publications reported that Germany’s Diehl Defence, which produces a similar seeker for its IRIS-T air defense system, will provide the guidance system. Diehl confirmed talks with Fire Point but disclosed no details.

Cost and interception math

Fire Point aims to keep the price below 1 million euros per interceptor — one-quarter to one-sixth the price of a Patriot interceptor.

“We are trying to compress a program that usually takes 20–30 years into a couple of years,” Terekh said, adding that the company had already conducted at least five test launches.

The project will use an open architecture, allowing components to be replaced in the future — for example, one radar with another.

The number of industrial partners could grow to about 20, further expanding production capacity. Fire Point is also negotiating with Ukrainian state-owned missile manufacturers that Terekh declined to identify.

Partner companies will finance development until the project produces a minimum viable product, defined as its first successful interception.

“We expect each launcher to hold four to six missiles. So if a single launcher load produces a ballistic missile interception for the MVP, that would be an excellent result,” Terekh said.

Fabian Hoffmann, a missile expert at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, explained that a ballistic missile can penetrate the defense only if every interceptor misses. To keep the risk of a missile getting through at the industry-standard 5%, each interceptor would need to hit its target about 40% of the time.

If Fire Point can maintain the promised price of 1 million euros, that would be “quite impressive” and “very cheap,” Hoffmann said.

Freyja project — key details

Zelenskyy announced plans in Paris on July 13 to create a joint European anti-ballistic missile system, with Ukraine prepared to contribute its own interceptor.

The leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom agreed to establish an integrated anti-ballistic defense coalition with Ukraine.

In April, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was considering developing an anti-ballistic missile system with European countries over the following year.

Fire Point co-founder and chief designer Denys Shtilerman announced on May 14 that the company was joining the anti-ballistic coalition. He also published a presentation of Freyja, a pan-European project for a unified, secure air and missile defense system focused on intercepting ballistic missiles. It will integrate with other air defense assets through NATO’s Link 16 standard.

Shtilerman said on May 25 that, if development succeeded, a cheaper Ukrainian alternative to the Patriot system could begin intercepting enemy ballistic missiles by the end of the year.

He also told the Financial Times that tests of the FP7.X missile had been “quite successful” and that mass production could begin as early as August 2026 under optimal conditions.

Fire Point unveiled the FP7.X anti-ballistic missiles being developed for the Freyja system on July 13.