Ukraine's 6-Ton Flamingo Missile Strikes Deep Inside Russia

What we're looking at here is the FP5 Flamingo missile, a homegrown Ukrainian weapon that is being used to destroy targets deep inside Russia. The Flamingo is one of the largest and heaviest cruise missiles ever created, and Kyiv now claims to be making three of them per day. In fact, the Flamingo is so impressive that for a long time, people refused to believe it was real, but we've been examining the tapes and can reveal it lives up to the hype. On this episode of War on Tape, we break down exactly how this missile is put together, analyze its role in the war, and most importantly, examine the footage which proves the Flamingo not only talks the talk, but walks the walk,

too. This is the FP5 Flamingo. FP is an abbreviation of the company which makes it, Fire Point. Five is the model number. There are also FP1, 2, 3, and 4 drones, and Flamingo because some early test versions were painted pink. The headline figures are truly astonishing. This thing is 45 ft long and has a wingspan of 20 ft. It weighs 6 metric tons, and the warhead alone weighs 1 ton. It can fly up to 600 mph and has a maximum range of 1,900 mi. The cost, estimated at around half a million dollars per missile. For context, America's Tomahawk cruise missile is less than half that size, packs less than half the punch, and costs almost four times as much. Now, let's get into the details, starting with the skin of this missile. This is

made of carbon fiber strands, which are woven together by machines. Though expensive, this stuff is incredibly strong and can be assembled quickly. By some estimates, it takes just 6 hours to weave one of these things. It's also very lightweight, allowing the Flamingo to carry more fuel and therefore fly further whilst also carrying its massive warhead. The nose of the missile is made out of fiberglass. This isn't so strong or expensive, but it's still lightweight and it's cheaper than carbon fiber. At the back of the missile are these things called canards. They not only keep the missile stable in the air, but can twist back and forth to steer it. There's also an inspection hatch. This could be for

refueling, but we'll discuss that more in just a moment. Then, there's the central wings, which allow it to cruise, flying in a long straight line like an aircraft would, rather than looping up and back down again like a ballistic missile. At the tip is a long thin tube called a pitot. This measures air speed and is crucial for keeping the Flamingo in the air. If we strip off the missile's outer layer, then we can see what's underneath. On the top here, we have the engine, thought to be an Ivchenko AI-25TL that was originally designed by the Soviets for training aircraft. Around 9,000 of these have been made, the majority of them in the 1970s and 80s.

Most of which are now reaching the end of their service lives. With just a few dozen flying hours left on each engine, they're virtually useless for jets, but perfect for missiles because one more trip is all they need to make. Ukraine is thought to have bought thousands of these things from landfill to make the missiles with. When those run out, Kyiv actually has the technical know-how to make new ones from scratch. Below the engine is the fuel tank. Missiles like this one typically use solid fuel and we know that a Danish company has done a deal to make that fuel for Ukraine. What we don't know is whether any of that fuel has been delivered yet. Given there's a hatch on the back of the

Flamingos we've seen, it's possible that early iterations of this missile use liquid fuel, and this is where it's fueled from. In front of the fuel tank is the warhead. From what we've seen, this appears to be a dumb bomb like the FAB-500. Dumb bombs are the kind that fall straight down from aircraft, and there are tens of thousands of them lying about in Ukraine dating back to the Soviets. Each FAB-500 weighs 500 kg. So, there's probably two of them inside making a metric ton of explosive in total. Just like with the engine, Ukraine is using components that are cheap and readily available to make this missile. A key feature which we'll discuss more in a minute. Hidden somewhere within this body must also be a guidance kit, but we're not sure

exactly where. We think the Flamingo uses either American GPS or global GNSS to figure out where it is. We also think that it has a fallback inertial navigation system which uses onboard gyroscopes and accelerometers to calculate its position, though isn't as accurate as GPS or GNSS. What the Flamingo lacks is a terrain scanning system called TERCOM which is commonly fitted to other cruise missiles like the Tomahawk. What this does is look at the ground beneath the missile and use geographic features to work out where it is. We'll talk more about why Ukraine decided not to use it in a moment. Finally, there's the launch system. The Flamingo uses a simple rail system in combination with an external rocket or jet-powered

motor. This is known as either RATO, rocket assisted takeoff, or JATO, jet assisted takeoff. The rail helps point the missile in the direction it needs to go. The rocket slides the missile up the rail and into the air before dropping away and allowing the main motor to take over. The system is used because the Flamingo's own engine is powerful enough to keep it in the air once it's up there, but not quite powerful enough to get it up there in the first place. While most JATO or RATO systems take off in a straight line, the Flamingo's fly in this very distinctive S shape. Why? We're not entirely sure, but it's probably due to the extreme weight of the weapon. If we go back to the tapes,

then I can show you everything I was just talking about. Here's one of the factories where the Flamingo is made. Here, you can see machines weaving together the carbon fiber body and the wings, which allow the missile to cruise. You can also see them making the nose cone out of fiberglass. This is the repurposed aircraft engine being lifted into place on top of the missile. And here's what the Flamingo's body looks like when fully assembled. You start to get a sense of just how massive it is when it's alongside people. Here are the rear canards being fitted. You can see how they twist to change direction while in the air and the giant main wings being fitted to the body.

Once the Flamingo is fully assembled, it requires a crane to lift it. On the launch pad, you can see the rail system I was talking about earlier and the pink color scheme which earned this weapon its name. Here's the separate rocket motor firing it into the air and you can see it dropping away on this onboard camera. Finally, you can see the signature S-shaped takeoff path right here. Put all of that together and you can begin to see why this missile caused such a stir when it was first unveiled and why some people refuse to believe it was real. Because the Flamingo fills a large and sophisticated gap in Ukraine's

arsenal, long-range precision strike weapons. Let me explain. On a near daily basis, Russia pummels Ukraine with all manner of long-range precision weapons: cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, even experimental missiles like the Hrim-2. These are fast-moving, difficult to shoot down, and cause immense damage when they land. For years now, Russia has used them to blow up critically important Ukrainian power plants and major cities, hoping to break the will of the Ukrainian people to keep fighting. They have also been used to strike Ukrainian weapons factories, training facilities, and ammo dumps, hoping to break the ability of the Ukrainian military to fight. This is

obviously a problem in and of itself, and Ukraine has spent an awful lot of time trying to work out ways to shoot these Russian weapons down. But, it also highlights a bigger problem, which is that Ukraine has no equivalent missiles that it can shoot back with. For a little while, it had American ATACMS, which President Biden briefly allowed Kyiv to shoot into Russia. It also had British Storm Shadow and French SCALP missiles, though it quickly ran out because not many exist and no new ones are being made. So, there's a whole domain of warfare in which Russia can cause immense damage to Ukraine, but in which Ukraine cannot damage Russia. At least, that is, until now. The

Flamingo fills this gap in three ways. First, it has a very long range. Second, it has a very large warhead. And third, it is Ukrainian-made. To say the Flamingo has a long range is perhaps understating things. It isn't just comparable to the long-range Western weapons that Ukraine has been given in the past, it is significantly better. Here's how far America's ATACMS can reach into Russia. Here's how far Britain's Storm Shadow and the French SCALP can travel. And now, here's the range of the Flamingo. It is in an entirely different league and puts virtually the entire western portion of Russia within striking distance. That means Ukraine can now hit strategically important factories, oil refineries, and military

bases, large numbers of which are based in this region. And, of course, both of Russia's most important cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg. The same is true of the Flamingo's weight and especially the weight of its warhead. It isn't just heavier than its western equivalents. It is more than double the size. This is what differentiates it from the drones that Ukraine has been using to hit bases, factories, and especially oil refineries deep inside Russia for years. Though those drones have a long range, they're lightweight, slow, and carry only a modest explosive charge. That means they're not very destructive. When they hit their targets, they do so with only a small amount of momentum and

without enough explosive charge to penetrate them. There's a reason that Ukraine has mostly used them to hit oil refineries and it's not just because selling oil is vital to funding Russia's war machine. It's because oil refineries are both very delicate and very flammable. Just a few hits on vital components can take down the whole refinery and they might start a fire that causes more widespread damage. This multiplies the drone's meager punch. In other words, Ukraine's long-range drones can cause damage, but they struggle to destroy facilities outright. The Flamingo, by contrast, flies 600 mph, not quite the speed of sound, but not far off it, either.

It also weighs multiple tons, meaning that when it hits its target, it does so with a lot of force, penetrating its outer layers. Then, when the 1-ton warhead goes off, it explodes inside the target, blowing it to smithereens. This is a weapon designed to destroy rather than simply cause damage. Lastly, being Ukrainian made is important because it means Kyiv can use the Flamingo whenever it wants to strike whatever it wants. In the past, Zelenskyy and his generals have been left extremely frustrated with caveats put on the Western weapons they've been given. First, they were told they couldn't use them to strike anywhere inside Russia. Then, they were given permission to hit Russia, but could only fire at military units shooting at them. They

couldn't go after the factories actually making Russia's missiles like the Russians could do against them. That's why the designers of the Flamingo deliberately avoided putting American components like the Turkon system in their design. They feared that Washington would choke off the supply or simply turn the system off, rendering the missile useless. Making the Flamingo in Ukraine means they aren't reliant on donations from their allies to fight their war, and they shouldn't run out like they did with the Storm Shadow. Originally, Ukraine said it could make one of these missiles a day, an impressive feat as is, since it takes America at least twice that time to make a Tomahawk. But, it has since ramped that up to

three per day and is aiming for seven. Given all that, you can see why some people simply refuse to believe the Flamingo is real or that it would do what Ukraine was claiming it could. But, by examining the tapes, we can show you that it lives up to the hype. Flamingos are now in regular use and have carried out several strategically important strikes. The first took place in late August 2025 and targeted an outpost in Crimea, around 65 mi behind the front line. Three missiles were launched, two arrived on target, and one scored a hit as satellite images later revealed. This target held little value in and of itself, but what it did do was prove the Flamingo's capabilities.

The next strike came a little over 3 weeks later, in mid-September. This time a more significant target was chosen, a factory in Belgorod, Russia, which makes components for Russian fighter jets and is around 40 miles from the front line. Four missiles were launched. All four arrived on target and photos from the scene showed fires inside the factory, suggesting significant damage was caused. Russia then claimed two further attacks took place in October. It seems one failed when the missiles were shot down, while it is unclear where the other missile went. Clearly, the Flamingo is not invulnerable to Russian air defense, but the tempo here is important. At this point, Ukraine is launching a strike roughly

once every 3 weeks. In November, these missiles were used again, this time against the Oriol power plant more than 100 miles behind the front. Four were launched, all four arrived on target, but all of them were shot down during the final phase of the attack, raining fiery debris on the city. Further strikes in December and January saw Flamingos fired almost 400 miles behind the front line. One of which struck the firing range that Russia uses for its Oreshnik missiles. Again, a pattern is emerging here. Each strike pushes slightly further into Russian territory, testing the Flamingo's range. Two more strikes took place in February and both scored hits, destroying two significant facilities in the process. First, the

Kapustin Yar ammunition storage, a little over 300 miles from the front, was blown up. And then, the Votkinsk missile factory was also badly damaged. The second strike was particularly significant because it occurred more than 800 miles from the front line, much further than Ukraine has been able to strike ever before, even with Western weapons. A further strike in March targeted the Chepyavest ammunition factory, more than 600 mi away, and while two missiles arrived on target, neither of them hit it. And the last strike we know of occurred in May, targeting the Cheboksary factory that makes navigation components for Russian military vehicles. Six missiles were launched and one landed a hit on the factory,

but as of the time of this recording in June 2026, we don't know how much damage was caused. So, based on all of that, what can we say? Well, Ukraine was not lying about the range or the destructive power of these missiles. We now know they can fly significantly further than their Western equivalents, and when they do land on target, are more than capable of destroying whatever they hit. We also know Ukraine was not lying about how quick it could make these things, either. Since August 2025, every month has seen at least one Flamingo strike carried out, with the exception of April 2026, which Zelenskyy has said was the result of Russia successfully striking one of the factories where they are made. They do have some downsides, however. They're

vulnerable to Russian air defenses, which is likely a result of their sheer size, and they also struggle with accuracy, likely a result of not having a Turcom system. On more than one occasion, the missiles made it through Russia's defenses only to miss their target. Overall though, the hype is very real. Flamingos exist and are broadly capable of everything Ukraine said they would be capable of doing. They have been used in at least eight strikes over the last 9 months, of which five caused significant damage. For the first time since the war began, Ukraine now has a long-range precision strike weapon in its arsenal, over which it has full control. Russia can no longer launch missiles into Ukraine with impunity.

Kyiv can and will hit back. The tide of this war is slowly but surely beginning to tilt back in Ukraine's favor. Hi everyone. Thanks for watching. If you like this kind of content and want to see more in your feed, don't forget to hit like and subscribe. And check out the videos on our channel for more analysis of the Ukraine war.