Fire Point employs a 93-year-old engineer: one of the oldest designers of Ukrainian rockets
6 April 18:39
The Ukrainian defense company Fire Point has one of the industry’s oldest engineers on its team—a specialist who is nearly 94 years old. The company’s co-owner and chief designer, Denis Shtilerman , shared this in an interview with journalist Dmytro Gordon.
“Our oldest employee is 93 years old. He is an engineer who came from ‘Pivdenmash.’ People like this are working on creating this technology. It’s fantastic. And a sharp mind—a person who is constantly engaged in intellectual activity,” Shteilerman noted.
According to him, active mental activity helps maintain a high cognitive level even at an advanced age.
Denis Shteilerman also paid special attention to analyzing the latest weapon models, in particular the “Flamingo” cruise missile, which is one of the company’s key developments.
Who is behind the creation of Fire Point
The Ukrainian defense company Fire Point effectively took shape during the full-scale war in 2022, although it was legally registered back in 2021.
Initially, the team’s activities were volunteer-based: they raised funds for the Civic Hub public initiative. Over time, this work evolved into the development of long-range strike drones. The company’s structure also evolved: initially operating under the name Centrocast, it adopted its current name, Fire Point, in February 2023 and gained a new formal owner—Yegor Skaliga, who worked in the film industry before the war and was involved in location scouting for well-known films.
Among the company’s key figures is also Technical Director Iryna Terekh—an entrepreneur and architect known, in particular, for her business in the field of concrete installations. The public face and chief designer is Denis Shtilerman. According to Terekh, at the start, she, along with Skaliga and Shtilerman, financed the development out of their own pockets—until the government began purchasing their products.
Fire Point subsequently scaled up rapidly: the company expanded into a network of dozens of production sites scattered across Ukraine. While it initially employed only a few dozen people, within three years the workforce had grown to over two thousand employees.
The company’s main developments
Among Fire Point’s key projects is the creation of two long-range weapon systems that meet the modern demands of warfare. These are the “Flamingo” (FP-5) cruise missile and the FP-1 kamikaze strike drone. Both designs are intended to strike targets deep behind enemy lines and are already being used in combat.
The “Flamingo” Missile: Capabilities and Applications
The Flamingo cruise missile, also known as the FP-5, was first presented to the public in August 2025. According to available information, it may have been developed in collaboration with the British company Milanion Group.
It is a ground-launched missile with a launch weight of about six tons and a wingspan of approximately six meters. A solid-fuel booster is used for launch, after which it transitions to cruise flight at subsonic speeds—about 850 km/h, with a maximum speed of up to 950 km/h. Flight occurs at altitudes of up to five kilometers.
The stated strike range is up to 3,000 kilometers, and the accuracy is within approximately 14 meters of the target, allowing for the effective engagement of large stationary targets. The warhead, weighing over a ton, is estimated to be designed for bunker-busting purposes.
Structurally, the missile has a fiberglass body manufactured using a winding process, which reduces its radar signature and facilitates mass production. At the same time, certain design features, such as fixed wings and the placement of the engine above the fuselage, simplify manufacturing but require a longer preparation time before launch.
In combat conditions, the “Flamingo” is capable of striking targets across a significant portion of Russian territory, including the Ural regions. According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the missile has already been used multiple times in military operations. There have also been reports of its possible use during strikes on targets in the temporarily occupied Crimea.
FP-1 Drone: Simple Design for Complex Tasks
Another important product of the company is the FP-1—a long-range kamikaze drone, which was first unveiled in May 2025. At the time of its public presentation, it was already being used in combat operations.
This drone is capable of covering a distance of up to 1,600 kilometers and carrying a payload weighing up to 120 kilograms. Its main feature is its maximally simplified design: the fuselage is made primarily of plywood cut on CNC machines, which reduces costs and speeds up production.
The drone is launched from a catapult using a rocket booster and has no landing gear, which has allowed for reduced weight and increased fuel and explosive payload. In flight, it uses a simple gasoline engine, and navigation is carried out using an inertial navigation system with satellite correction. The developers have also created their own software, which is resistant to electronic warfare measures.
The FP-1 is used to strike strategic targets in the rear—oil depots, ammunition depots, industrial facilities, and command posts. In 2025, this drone was repeatedly mentioned in reports of attacks on targets far from the front lines, where air defense systems do not always have time to respond effectively.
