Recently released videos show that Ukraine's most advanced "Flamingo" cruise missile has soared into the sky from a makeshift rail launch site on the outskirts of Kyiv. Ukrainian media reports that this cruise missile, with a range of about 3,000 kilometers and a warhead weighing 1.15 tons, has been deployed in combat and has been used for the first time to strike deep Russian targets. From within Ukraine, it can cover Moscow, St. Petersburg, and even the heartland of Siberia. More notably, this missile is backed by Ukraine's vast military-industrial legacy from the Soviet era: it was once the most important strategic weapons research and production base of the entire Red Empire, and now these "assets" are being fully revived in the war.
Images published by the Ukrainian newspaper Pravda show that the "Flamingo" was fired in salvo from a single-rail launcher on two civilian two-axle trailers. After ignition, it rapidly ascended and transitioned to the cruise phase. A source within Ukraine's defense industry revealed that the missile is mass-produced by domestic companies and has been "deployed multiple times for combat duty against Russia." The outside world noticed that the appearance of this missile is almost identical to the FP-5 cruise missile previously disclosed by an Emirati company, but its core navigation, engine, and warhead technology originate from Ukraine itself — behind which lie the veteran defense giants such as the Southern Design Bureau in Dnipro, the "Maliyev" tank factory in Kharkiv, and the "Progress" engine consortium in Zaporozhye from the Soviet era. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, they fell silent, but now they have been reactivated due to the war.
History cannot be ignored: Ukraine once accounted for more than 30% of the Soviet Union's defense industry, from intercontinental ballistic missiles to aircraft carrier gas turbines, from main battle tanks to cruise missile engines, all were designed, assembled or tested here. Now, these factories and research institutes' machine tools, test stands, and talent pools are quickly converted into wartime systems, becoming the foundation for the birth of the "Flamingo." As a spokesperson for Ukraine's defense industry group said, "We don't need to start from scratch; we just need to light up the corridors of the Soviet era again."
Once mass-deployed, the "Flamingo" will give the Ukrainian army its first strategic strike capability equivalent to Russia's "Kalibr": five times farther than the farthest modified drones previously used by Ukraine, ten times farther than the British "Storm Shadow," and it can independently determine targets outside the Western military aid red lines. A one-ton high-explosive warhead poses an unprecedented threat to Russian rear airports, energy hubs, and ammunition depots.
At the same time, Ukraine is advancing the cost reduction and saturation attack tactics of the "Flamingo" — analysts estimate that the cost per unit may be below $1 million, meaning that Ukraine's industrial system can produce hundreds of units within a year, exerting a "low-cost breakthrough" pressure on the already strained Russian air defense system.
The unveiling of the "Flamingo" coincides with the meeting between the U.S. president and the Russian president in Alaska, and the visit of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to Washington. The Kyiv think tank "Strategic Bridge" commented that this timing is no coincidence: "Ukraine is sending signals simultaneously to its allies and adversaries — even if assistance is limited, we can independently upgrade the war dimension using the industrial skeleton left by the Soviet Union, allowing the fire to truly reach the strategic rear of the Kremlin."
Once dependent on foreign aid, Ukraine is now using its inherited vast military-industrial system as a fulcrum to shift the entire regional military balance. As Ukraine's Defense Minister said, "When the appropriate moment comes, the world will see the revival of a military power — its roots are deeply buried in history."
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7540556721664623154/
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