FP-7 Scores First Combat Use at Helsinki Security Forum — SkimNews
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- Fire Point's FP-7 tactical ballistic missile saw its first combat use on Oct. 1 with a 300-kilometer range, CEO Iryna Terekh said at the Helsinki Security Forum, adding that an extended-range version is due this year and that the company built the weapon in two years as a private firm.
- Fire Point is integrating the FP-7 into the pan-European Freyja anti-ballistic missile defense program, with a prototype expected in the first half of 2027; Terekh said the move puts Ukraine in a "VIP league" of independent ballistic-missile operators with "no kill switch."
- Iceye and Nokia announced an Oct. 1 partnership to develop sovereign low-Earth-orbit satellite communications for governments, with first satellites launching in 2028; Iceye CEO Rafal Modrzewski noted Germany's December 2025 order for a 40-satellite constellation marked the first-ever European move to build a large tactical space system on the continent.
- Finland formally presented the first two of 64 F-35s ordered from Lockheed Martin on Oct. 1, with Lockheed VP Elizabeth Parcella saying about 25% of every F-35's value will be produced in Europe going forward through partners including Patria and Pratt & Whitney.
- Patria won a contract to supply its Trackx light armored vehicles to Finland and Sweden, with deliveries set to begin in 2027 followed by joint field trials; CEO Panu Routila said the Arctic-mobility vehicle was developed in just three years.
- Moldovan President Maia Sandu told the forum that Russian drones have entered Moldovan airspace more than 45 times this year — eight in the past week alone — and that Russia deliberately struck Ukraine's border crossings with Moldova last month, killing two.
Why it matters: Fire Point built the FP-7 in two years as a private firm "a few times cheaper than any" competitor, per CEO Iryna Terekh. The same Helsinki-stage announcements also produced Europe's first sovereign tactical satellite partnership (Iceye-Nokia) and Germany's 40-satellite order, concrete steps toward filling the capability gaps European leaders keep citing at the forum.
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