Ukraine’s military intelligence agency has published a detailed breakdown of Filin, a new Russian ground-launched cruise missile that Moscow began firing at Ukraine in late summer 2026. The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, known as HUR, released an interactive 3D model of the missile, its main assemblies, and a catalog of its electronic components on the agency’s War & Sanctions portal. The agency did not say how many Filin missiles Russia has launched, which targets they hit, or how investigators obtained the parts they examined.
Filin, Russian for “eagle owl,” is made by AO NPO Molniya, a company within Russia’s state-owned Tactical Missiles Corporation. HUR described the missile as the latest product of a Russian effort to build relatively cheap jet-powered strike weapons that launch from the ground instead of from aircraft or warships.
The missile is 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) long and has a wingspan of 3 meters (9.8 feet), with a maximum launch weight of 210 kg (463 pounds). Its fuselage is made of carbon fiber and fiberglass composites, and some of its parts are produced by 3D printing. Russia claims Filin can reach a top speed of 800 km/h (497 mph) and fly up to 1,200 km (746 miles), although HUR’s specification sheet gives the range as 600 to 1,200 km (373 to 746 miles). The missile can fly at very low altitude or climb as high as 6 km (19,700 feet).
Filin comes in versions with either a 50 kg (110-pound) or a 100 kg (220-pound) warhead, and HUR lists three warhead types: high-explosive fragmentation, penetrating, and thermobaric. The missile is fired from a ground launcher with the help of a solid-fuel booster, which pushes it up to flying speed before its small jet engine takes over for the cruise to the target.
HUR’s investigation also links Filin closely to Russia’s long-range attack drone program. The missile’s onboard equipment is produced by OOO PLAZ, which also makes equipment for the Garpiya, or “Harpy,” drone, a modification of the Geran-2. HUR said electronic units from Filin and Garpiya share a similar layout and similar markings.
For guidance, Filin relies on a Chinese-made inertial navigation system, which tracks the missile’s position using onboard motion sensors without any outside signal. It works alongside a 16-channel Kometa satellite navigation module, a jam-resistant receiver made by Russia’s VNIIR-Progress. HUR said Filin’s electronics resemble those found in other Russian missiles and drones, but with a larger share of Chinese parts. Investigators counted 35 American components and 22 Chinese ones in the missile’s onboard equipment.
The identified suppliers include Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, NXP Semiconductors, and STMicroelectronics, along with Chinese firms such as WinChipHead and Mornsun. Production markings on some parts date from 2021 and 2022, including an Ethernet switch chip made in May 2022, three months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Filin’s engine, by contrast, is Russian: an R500 turbojet built by OOO Reynolds. HUR had previously identified the same engine in Russia’s S-71K Kover air-launched cruise missile and in the S-71M Monokhrom.
Sources: Defence Blog · Stars and Stripes