Sichen

Sichen (Січень, “January”) is a Ukrainian long-range one-way attack drone built to strike deep inside Russian territory. Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs unveiled it in April 2026 at a Kyiv exhibition of domestically produced weapons, presenting a system meant for high-value targets, critical infrastructure, and troop concentrations at operational-tactical depth — explicitly engineered to keep flying through active electronic warfare, by day or night.

The specifications shown at the reveal give a range of up to 1,400 kilometres, a 40-kilogram warhead described as available in “various types,” a top speed of 200 km/h, a ceiling of up to 1,500 metres, and a maximum take-off weight of 140 kilograms. Officials cited strike accuracy within 20 metres and a launch-preparation time under 15 minutes. The drone is a fixed-wing platform driven by a compact piston engine, in the same low-cost, mass-producible family as Ukraine’s other deep-strike systems such as the FP-1 and the An-196 Liutyi.

The Office of the President of Ukraine lists Sichen among the country’s long-range drones and says it first saw combat in 2023, making the 2026 presentation a disclosure rather than a debut. In June 2026, Sichen drones were tracked over the Moscow region alongside FP-1 strike drones during Ukraine’s sustained campaign against Russian oil refineries. The company that designs and builds Sichen has not been publicly identified — no manufacturer, design bureau, or engine supplier was named in the official materials or in subsequent reporting.