Why did Fire Point startup with zero missile pedigree get all the funding while Sapsan/Hrim-2 real design bureau had to fight for scraps?
So Fire Point didn't exist before 2022, plus its owner and CTO came from film scouting and concrete furniture, zero defense industry knowledge and by 2025 it's the largest single recipient of MoD drone/missile money plus billions more from Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands.
While Zelensky called its Flamingo missile "our most successful" weeks before his own military spokesman called it "experimental."
OTOH Sapsan/Hrim-2, built by an actual state design bureau with 18 years of institutional work behind it, had experimental launches and sold prototypes to Saudi Arabia.
Recently NABU's leaked "Mindich tapes" have then-defense minister Umerov discussing Fire Point's funding directly with Mindich, Zelensky's former business partner, and NABU is investigating Fire Point separately over pricing and whether Mindich is a hidden owner.
How does a company with zero track record, run by people from Zelensky's old film circle, end up outcompeting a real design bureau for defense budget?? Is it coincidence, defense needs or exactly what it looks like?