Russia's new Filin cruise missile caught on camera

A photo of Russia's new Filin cruise missile sitting on a ground launcher with a solid-fuel booster strapped under its fuselage has surfaced for the first time, Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi reported, showing how Russia gets the low-cost missile into the air. The booster fires first to accelerate the missile off the launcher and into flight, then drops away while the Filin's own small turbojet engine takes over for the cruise to its target. The photo does not show where or when it was taken, or what type of vehicle or rail carries the launcher. Russia began using the Filin against Ukraine in late summer 2026, Ukraine's military intelligence agency HUR said in October, when it published an interactive 3D model of the missile and a breakdown of its parts on its War&Sanctions portal. HUR said the missile is built by NPO Molniya, part of the state-owned Tactical Missiles Corporation, and continues a push by Russian industry toward cheap, jet-powered, ground-launched strike weapons. The Filin is small for a cruise missile. Its composite carbon-fiber and fiberglass fuselage is 3.5 m (11.5 feet) long, with a 3 m (10-foot) wingspan, and some parts are 3D-printed. Russia claims it can fly at up to 800 km/h (500 mph) and reach targets up to 1,200 km (745 miles) away, at altitudes from just above the ground to 6 km (about 20,000 feet). HUR said versions exist with 50 kg (110-pound) and 100 kg (220-pound) warheads, a fraction of the payload of Russia's larger cruise missiles such as the Kh-101. Those performance figures come from Russian sources and have not been independently confirmed. Filin ground-launched cruise missile The engine is a Russian-made R500 from a company called Reynolds, according to HUR. The same engine was previously found in Russia's air-launched S-71K Kover and S-71M Monochrome cruise missiles. HUR also said the Filin's onboard electronics are made by PLAZ, a company involved in producing the Harpiya drone, a modified version of the Geran-2 long-range attack drone, and that the missile contains electronic components made in the United States and China. That combination of a jet engine, a ground launcher and a small warhead puts the Filin between Russia's Geran attack drones, which are slower and use propellers, and its full-size cruise missiles, which cost far more. Ukrainian outlet Defense Express has suggested the Filin may be the 800 km/h jet-powered drone that Ukrainian sources reported Russia using earlier this year. Russia has been fielding several new low-cost strike weapons in recent months. Ukrainian officials have also identified the air-launched S8000 Banderol cruise missile and jet-powered versions of the Geran, and a small, previously unseen Russian cruise missile came down almost intact in Odesa region on Oct. 27.