Ukraine's New Pelican Weapon Debuts in Large Strike on Russia

Ukraine used a weapon designated Pelican for the first time in a large-scale strike on Russia on Sept. 20.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the system was part of a mass overnight assault that also included cruise missiles, which fly low and steady to their targets, and strike drones, according to Kyiv Post. The designation Pelican is new.

The operation came one day after Zelenskyy approved new long-range operations in response to Russian attacks, according to Kyiv Independent. Zelenskyy named ten systems used in the Sept. 20 strike as FP-1, RZ-100, MICH-2000, Palianytsia, Vendetta, Liutyi, Bars, Flamingo, Sichen and Pelican. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences intercepted more than 1,600 drones, including 450 directed toward the capital, according to Al Jazeera.

What Pelican is remains disputed. Zelenskyy described Pelican as a ballistic missile in his Sept. 20 statements, according to NV. A ballistic missile arcs high above the atmosphere and then falls very fast, which makes it hard to stop. RBC-Ukraine, citing unnamed sources, reported the Pelican was an aircraft-type drone, a pilotless vehicle that flies like a small plane. That difference has led to debate among military analysts over whether Pelican is a tactical ballistic missile, a shorter-range system built for battlefield targets, or a drone. There is no official confirmation that the FP-7 tactical ballistic missile is the Pelican.

Attention has focused on the FP-7 because its development timeline lines up with the announcement. Fire Point CEO Iryna Terekh said at the 34th International Defence Industry Exhibition in Poland that Ukraine could start deploying its FP-7 tactical ballistic missile within weeks. The FP-7 is ground-launched. It can strike targets 200 km away and carry a warhead weighing up to 150 kg. Maximum projectile speed is 1,500 metres per second. Fire Point founder Denys Shtilerman said in March that the FP-7 system is cheaper than the US-made ATACMS surface-to-surface ballistic missile.

Fire Point also produces the FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile. The company is Ukraine's largest missile and drone maker and conducted a flight test of a ballistic missile intended to serve as the foundation for an air defence system, according to Reuters. Zelenskyy said last month that Ukraine expected to use its first domestically produced ballistic missile as early as autumn. In February, Ukraine's defence ministry said domestic weapons production capacity had increased 50-fold to $50 billion.

The July air campaign helps explain the current exchanges. Ukraine's air forces said air defence units shot down 55 missiles and 265 drones but stopped only one of nine ballistic missiles, according to Reuters. An earlier Russian salvo involved hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles fired at Kyiv, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 90, according to Reuters.

The broader context here is industrial capacity meeting operational demand. Kyiv has paired a public doctrine of long-range retaliation with a domestic production drive intended to reduce dependence on Western transfers. A mixed package of ballistic systems, cruise missiles and one-way attack drones complicates interception, since each flies a different profile and stresses different sensors and interceptors, like facing pitches thrown at very different speeds and angles. Moscow's very high intercept claim fits its established practice of projecting air-defence effectiveness around the capital, while Kyiv's release of a full inventory list projects breadth in its arsenal. Both claims require independent battle-damage assessment.

Looking to the weeks ahead, three questions will shape assessments. First is nomenclature. Whether Pelican denotes the FP-7, an aircraft-type drone reported by RBC-Ukraine, or a separate program will determine its range, survivability and production rate. Second is timing. A deployment within weeks would align with Zelenskyy's autumn window for a domestically produced ballistic missile, but schedules for complex systems often shift. Third is diplomacy. A demonstrated domestic ballistic capability gives Kyiv greater autonomy in target selection and escalation management, and it changes the procurement conversation with partners from supply of finished missiles to components, finance and air-defence cooperation.