Europe Should Buy Ukrainian Flamingos
Any idea that Tomahawk missiles can be deployed at scale across Europe are now dead, but there is an alternative
This story was commissioned by Europe’s Edge. Since Substack pays only around a fifth of my bills, I have no choice but to take on a lot of freelance work. I still want my Substack audience to know where to read those freelance stories, however. Hence this excerpt.
Europeans need cruise missiles. Ukraine makes them. It’s a deep-strike problem with an obvious solution. Despite the missile’s immaturity, despite the political costs and despite the prospect of eventual European-made alternatives, Europe should buy Ukraine’s Fire Point FP-5 Flamingo.
In buying FP-5s to meet its own needs, Europe could help meet Ukraine’s needs, too. The crude, 6-ton FP-5 isn’t a perfect weapon (it’s about five times heavier than a Tomahawk, for example). But it’s available, affordable, battle-tested and, most importantly, it’s Ukrainian.
If European countries were to acquire the FP-5, it would contribute to economies of scale that would drive down the missile’s estimated $500,000 unit cost and help Ukraine buy more of the missiles, too. Moreover, European licenses for the FP-5 would empower European developers to contribute to the missile’s development. In particular, its inertial guidance system, the main factor in its accuracy. Or a lack thereof.
European purchases of a cheap Ukrainian missile aren’t a wild notion, despite the fact that it’s loosely modeled on Cold War reconnaissance drones and rushed into service last year despite a lack of refinement by a company mired in more than a few controversies. It’s reportedly already under serious consideration by the German government, which has abruptly found itself without immediate access to long-range, ground-launched missiles.
Read the rest at Europe’s Edge.
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Germany, the UK, and others nations are developing Tomahawk alternatives already. These are all advanced cruise missiles, cheaper, and quicker to mass produce than the Tomahawk. The Flamingo is essentially an upgraded Soviet-era target drone adapted to take a warhead. It's another a great piece of Ukrainian adaptation but other, perhaps more accurate missiles will soon be appearing.
Also, only last week, a six-nation European consortium was launched to:
"...work on developing surface-to-surface missiles with ranges of 300–500 km, 500–2,000 km, and over 2,000 km, as well as low-cost long-range strike weapons with a range of over 500 km."
https://militarnyi.com/en/news/six-european-countries-long-range-weapons/
The FP-5 will be a stop-gap at best.