CEO of Ukraine’s Fire Point: Freyja anti-ballistic missile program seeks ‘best players’

KIELCE, Poland — The head of a high-profile Ukrainian defense company says that while the international Freyja anti-ballistic missile project may not have made “flashy” strides in the weeks since its July inception, there has been a wave of important “technology integration,” with more on the way.

Without falling to vendor lock, “our task is to choose the best players in the market, integrate the whole architecture together [and] tailor each system to the purpose of being able to intercept ballistic targets,” Fire Point CEO Iryna Terekh, told Breaking Defense on the sidelines of the MSPO defense exhibition here.

Firepoint’s FP-7X missile serves as Freyja’s interceptor, and the company acts as main system integrator for the 10-nation program. It is targeting a cost of $1 million per unit. (Full scale mock ups of the company’s FP-1 long-range drone, FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile, alongside FP-7 and FP-9 ballistic missiles, were displayed here at the show.)

Terekh said she had “just returned” from a Freyja steering group meeting co-led by Norway and Ukraine, alongside involvement from industry executives.

“[A] lot has happened since the anti-ballistic coalition was signed in Paris,” she explained. “Of course, it is not maybe something flashy to show, but by the amount of technical integration work that is already behind [us], I see how the approach” is producing an initial result.

Partners are preparing for Freyja’s “zero test” by year end, she noted. In parallel, more work is underway to select additional suppliers.

“It is very important when you buy air defense [equipment] … to ensure that it will always work.” she added. “[That] it will not have a kill switch, it will not have proprietary dependence on [a] specific vendor.”

In August, Fire Point clinched more than 12 agreements with European defense companies to provide radar, guidance and additional systems for Freyja, according to a Reuters report .

Asked of her experience working with European firms, Terekh said she prefers those that “work and think in Ukrainian speed and [with a] Ukrainian mindset, because we do not have the luxury of having spare time. We do not have the luxury of losing August for holidays.” Separate from industrial planning, Fire Point claimed on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces launched Ukraine’s deepest strike on Russia since the outbreak of the war using its products. In a telegram post it said two FP-1 drones flew over 3,200 km to hit gas facilities located in Northwestern Siberia.

波兰凯尔采——一家知名乌克兰国防公司的负责人表示，虽然国际弗雷亚反弹道导弹项目自7月启动以来，几周内可能没有取得“引人注目”的进展，但已经出现了一波重要的“技术整合”浪潮，而且还有更多整合正在进行中。

Fire Point 首席执行官 Iryna Terekh 在 MSPO 防务展期间告诉 Breaking Defense，为了避免陷入供应商锁定，“我们的任务是选择市场上最好的参与者，将整个架构整合在一起，并根据拦截弹道目标的目的定制每个系统。”

Firepoint公司的FP-7X导弹是“弗雷亚”导弹的拦截器，该公司也是这项由10个国家参与的项目的主要系统集成商。其目标单价为100万美元。（该公司FP-1远程无人机、FP-5“火烈鸟”巡航导弹以及FP-7和FP-9弹道导弹的全尺寸模型也在展会上展出。）

Terekh表示，她“刚刚”参加了由挪威和乌克兰共同领导的Freyja指导小组会议，行业高管也参与其中。

“自从反弹道导弹联盟在巴黎签署以来，已经发生了很多事情，”她解释说。“当然，这或许不是什么值得大肆宣传的成就，但从我们已经完成的技术整合工作量来看，我认为这种方法正在取得初步成果。”

她指出，合作伙伴正在为弗雷娅年底前的“零测试”做准备。与此同时，遴选更多供应商的工作也在进行中。

她补充说：“购买防空装备时，确保其始终有效至关重要。它不能有失效开关，也不能依赖于特定供应商的专有技术。”

据路透社报道，8 月份，Fire Point 与 12 家欧洲国防公司达成协议，为 Freyja 提供雷达、制导和其他系统。

当被问及与欧洲公司合作的感受时，特雷赫表示，她更喜欢那些“以乌克兰的速度和思维方式工作和思考”的公司，因为我们没有闲暇时间。我们没有闲暇时间把八月浪费在度假上。除了工业规划之外，Fire Point周三声称，乌克兰军队使用其产品对俄罗斯发动了自战争爆发以来乌克兰对俄罗斯最深入的打击。该公司在一份电报中称，两架FP-1无人机飞行了3200多公里，袭击了位于西伯利亚西北部的天然气设施。