Mike Pompeo becomes adviser to scrutinized Ukraine defense company that’s looking to boost missiles

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joined the advisory board of Ukraine’s leading defense company, known for its long-range attack-capable unmanned aerial vehicles Targets deep within RussiaWhile the corruption investigation is ongoing.

Fire Point is building a new factory in Germany to increase its international reputation. Denmark and bringing together leading figures from the industry. It also aims to expand its operations to produce battle-tested cruise missiles, with plans to more than double its current capacity.

But public scrutiny remains intense amid an ongoing corruption investigation. Fire Point’s managers insist they have nothing to hide and are operating under strict martial law protocols, even commissioning an independent audit to appease investigators. But critics question the company’s opaque origins and the monopoly of its contracts with the Ministry of Defense, pointing to alleged links to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s notorious associate Timur MindichPerson involved in a major corruption scandal.

“Overall, it’s good that they’re working on this,” said Iryna Terekh, Fire Point’s chief technology officer for the investigation. “As a company, we fully support the ongoing investigation of this investigation.”

Fire Point commissioned a major international firm to conduct an independent audit of pricing and production to address concerns, Tereh said. He said the investigation launched by anti-corruption agencies a year ago is still ongoing. “We will wait for the results to come”

The Associated Press was granted exclusive access to a factory in Ukraine where the cruise missile known as the Flamingo or FP-5 is assembled. AP was granted access on the condition that the exact location was not specified due to the risk of Russian attack.

big plans

Fire Point, which initially rose to prominence from relative obscurity following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has now reported revenue of nearly $1 billion this year. The company is also building a factory in Denmark to produce basic rocket boosters.

Meanwhile, the company continues with its expansion plans.

The company formed an advisory board on Nov. 12 and selected Pompeo as a member, executives told the AP. Speaking at the factory, Terekh said, “This is a great honor for us.” “As we grew into a large international company, we decided that we needed to make sure we were following the clearest and best corporate standards.”

Three more people will join the management. “We are rising as a company and want a wise advisory board to help us build this business,” Terekh said.

U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Keith Kellogg also visited one of Fire Point’s factories during his recent visit, a visit that included other Ukrainian defense technology companies, executives said.

Building on the success of the deep-attack aircraft FP-1, to which the AP was granted exclusive access in August, the company now plans to increase production of cruise missiles. They are also in high demand among Ukrainian forces because Western missiles are difficult to access in sufficient quantities to weaken Russia’s capabilities.

Fire Point has successfully tested the Flamingo on the battlefield at least four times, company executives said. It was used to attack an FSB base in Armiansk on the occupied Crimean Peninsula in late August. The missile was used to hit targets in Oryol, Russia, this week. The company did not provide existing production capacity, citing safety concerns.

Company executives said production was going according to plan, without citing exact figures due to safety concerns.

Dozens of hollow missile bodies were strewn across the factory floor. They are made of carbon fiber, a material better suited than aluminum to evade Russian radars, design chief Maksym told the AP. He spoke on condition that only his name be used for security reasons.

Fire Point is a major beneficiary of the so-called Danish model, a financing mechanism pioneered by Denmark in which foreign governments directly finance Ukrainian defense companies rather than procuring weapons from their own industries to send as aid. A factory is being established in Denmark to produce solid rocket fuel for missiles, including Flamingo.

“They’ve done a great job helping us secure production of critical components,” Terekh said of Denmark’s support. “Our factory in Denmark is dedicated to solving a bottleneck with solid rocket fuel.”

ongoing investigation

But the company’s meteoric rise was overshadowed by an investigation by Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdogs.

Authorities are examining whether Fire Point inflated parts prices or drone quantities in Department of Defense contracts for its main weapon, the FP-1 drone, and are also examining potential connections between the company and Mindich.

Anti-corruption agencies said they were not investigating the Flamingo missile.

Lawmakers have raised an issue with Fire Point over its apparent monopoly on deep strike drones, its ability to obtain lucrative contracts despite its relative obscurity, and uncertainty over its ownership. The legally listed owner is Yehor Skalyha, who, like Mindich, maintains connections to the entertainment industry.

Anti-corruption watchdogs have not released the findings of their investigation. Company founder Denys Shtilerman told the AP that he is the majority owner, while Skalyha has a 2% stake.

Shtilerman said he met with Mindich several times, but the company denies that the business owner has any connection to their company.

Crowdfunding and testing

On Sunday, the company’s engineers painted a pink flamingo on a Flamingo cruise missile purchased through a crowdfunding campaign by the Czech organization Weapons to Ukraine. Each missile costs approximately $500,000.

Jan Polak, one of the members of the organization, said that the amount was collected within two days. Polak said that the same organization managed to finance the delivery of the Black Hawk helicopter to Ukrainian military intelligence. “We feel like they’re fighting for us,” he said of his organization’s reasons for financing the purchase of missiles to hit Russian targets.

The current design of the Flamingo missile is a compilation of old Soviet weapons and new techniques. For example, the engines were taken from old Soviet jets.

Testing and fine-tuning is a continuous process, Maksym said. “Since our rockets were produced only six months ago, we are currently continuing firing training. We are currently training, but we are training on objects in the territory of Russia and Crimea,” he said.

He said workers had conducted a test run with this black-painted missile, which will be used in a future mission. The workers got into a truck concealing the gun.

“We’re working to hit the targets as much as we can and we’re doing everything we can,” he said, adding that finding ways to evade Russian radar systems and electronic warfare is an ongoing challenge. “We learn to work on bugs from every launch.”