MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. Ukraine’s Firepoint-1 (FP-1) drones which have been attacking Moscow over the past three days are a throwback to Germany's WWII-era Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu (nicknamed Rama (‘Frame’) by the Russian military) reconnaissance aircraft, Dmitry Kuzyakin, an unmanned aircraft expert and general designer at the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions, told TASS.
"The Firepoint-1 drone, aka FP-1, produced by a company in Kiev, is an aircraft-type drone belonging to the third technological league, just like the Shahed, Geran, and Gerber unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). It’s different in appearance, but don’t let that fool anyone. Essentially, it’s a Shahed, only with a classic wing design—that is, a rectangular wing with a tail. The FP-1 is based on the German Rama reconnaissance aircraft and uses a solid-propellant booster for takeoff. The FP-1 is considered no worse or better than all other UAVs in the third technological league, which is what has allowed Russia to successfully repel Ukrainian attacks in recent days," said Kuzyakin.
The specialist noted that the FP-1 was first developed in Ukraine in 2023. "It was put into service by the enemy in 2024 and is still in operation. Currently, more than 10 different modifications of the drone are known. This is why our guys need to continuously change their line of defense—that very multi-layered air defense system built in Russia. Because despite the device being called FP-1, the drone’s internal components are being changed out almost monthly, and we need to counter it accordingly. In today’s environment, an air defense system cannot be built and then left alone, it changes very frequently and must be adapted to repel attacks," Kuzyakin stated.
Earlier, TASS, citing its own calculations, reported that the Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow Region, repelled by the Defense Ministry’s air defense forces on March 14-16, has been the largest in at least a year.