{
  "id": 7146801,
  "title": "Ukraine's missile gap — Kyiv's struggle to close the ballistic divide",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/13/ukraines-missile-gap-kyivs-struggle-to-close-the-ballistic-divide",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-13T17:51:12.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Kyiv Independent",
    "slug": "kyiv-independent",
    "url": "https://kyivindependent.com/ukraines-missile-gap-kyivs-struggle-to-close-the-ballistic-divide/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The ongoing Russian assault on Ukrainian cities has featured fast and destructive ballistic missiles as a key feature of the Russian military strategy. Ukraine, while having built world-leading drone technology, still lags significantly behind Russia in producing ballistic missiles, which are crucial in modern warfare. In a bid to close this gap, Ukraine is seeking to mass-produce its own ballistic missiles, with two new models, the FP-7 and FP-9, set to enter service in the coming months. Fire Point, the company behind these missiles, is currently undergoing flight tests for the FP-9.\n\nA ballistic missile strike could have a significant impact on the war, giving Ukraine the ability to launch devastating missile attacks against Russian military targets. This capability, however, is currently lacking for Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, produces about 120 ballistic missiles every month, far outpacing Western production of Patriot ballistic missile interceptors, which stands at around 50 per month. The current state of Ukraine's ballistic missile production is minimal, relying heavily on foreign allies for limited supplies of replacement missiles, such as the American-made ATACMS.",
  "summary": "Incredibly fast and destructive, ballistic missiles have become a key feature of Russia's continuing long-range assault against Ukrainian cities. And while Kyiv has built world-leading drone technology, when it comes to producing ballistic missiles, a key capability in modern warfare, Ukraine still decisively lags behind Russia. This could soon change, as Kyiv seeks to close the gap by…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}