Is it a missile? Is it a drone? What’s the Pelican used by Ukraine?

EXPLAINERThe use of the Pelican has sparked interest among military analysts about whether it was a tactical ballistic missile or a drone.Workers in Kotelniki in the Moscow region clear up debris near a damaged high-rise apartment building hit by what authorities described as a Ukrainian drone strike, September 20, 2026. [Reuters]Published On 21 Sep 2026Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday’s large-scale strike on Russia involved several weapons, including a “Pelican” for the first time.In a post on X on Sunday morning, Zelenskyy wrote that long-range attacks on Moscow’s region had a “very significant impact”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump signs sweeping Russia sanctions over Ukraine warlist 2 of 3Could US pull one-third of troops from Europe? What that would meanlist 3 of 3Russia’s elections are more than political theatreend of list“One of Russia’s key oil industry facilities and the aggressor’s logistics facility were hit. These are billions of dollars that sustain the war machine. The systems used included FP-1, RZ-100, MICH-2000, Palianytsia, Vendetta, Liutyi, Bars, Flamingo, Sichen and Pelican,” he said.The attack on the final day of voting in Russia’s parliamentary elections killed at least three people. Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 1,600 drones were intercepted, 450 of them heading for the capital.However, the use of the Pelican has interested military analysts about whether it is a tactical ballistic missile or a drone.Here’s what we know:What is a Pelican missile and why is there confusion?Speaking at the 34th International Defence Industry Exhibition in Poland last week, the CEO of Ukrainian defence firm Fire Point said Ukraine could start deploying its FP-7 tactical ballistic missile to target Russia in weeks, reported The Kyiv Post.Iryna Terekh explained that the new weapons could strike targets 200km (125 miles) away and carry a warhead weighing up to 150kg.The FP-7 system is ground-launched and has a maximum projectile speed of 1,500 metres per second. Fire Point founder and chief designer Denys Shtilerman told Ukrainian media back in March that the system is cheaper than the US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.Zelenskyy also said last month that they expected to use their first domestically produced ballistic missile as early as in the autumn.So far, there is no official confirmation that the FP-7 tactical ballistic missile is the Pelican, but Ukrainian media, such as The Kyiv Post, has linked the two together.The New Voice of Ukraine reported on Sunday that Fire Point, the Ukrainian company that also produces the FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile, had earlier this year applied to register the Pelican trademark.However, the RBC-Ukraine news agency, citing unnamed sources, reported on Sunday without elaborating that the Pelican was an aircraft-type drone.Al Jazeera could not independently verify the Ukrainian media reports.(Al Jazeera)What is Ukraine’s weapons production like?In February, Ukraine’s defence ministry said that the domestic weapons industry had demonstrated “unprecedented growth”, with production capacity increasing 50-fold to $50bn.“As a result, domestic manufacturers now meet over half of the Defence Forces’ needs for weapons and military equipment,” the ministry said.On Saturday, Zelenskyy posted on X that the military counterintelligence unit at the Security Service of Ukraine has developed a new interceptor drone that had been “successfully deployed” against Iranian-made Shahed drones used by Russia throughout the war to target Ukraine.“Step by step, we are moving forward to give Ukraine greater protection. I thank all the developers and manufacturers who work every day to scale up the weapons we need,” he said.In March, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said more than 70 per cent of Shahed-type attack drones were destroyed using interceptor drones in February.The success of Ukraine’s drone interceptors also led to interest from Gulf states targeted by Iranian drones and missiles during the US-Israeli war.How have attacks on Russia changed recently?Both Russia and Ukraine have intensified attacks on each other’s infrastructure, targeting oil facilities and logistics hubs.Ukraine has also repeatedly struck warehouses belonging to Russia’s Wildberries e-commerce giant since July, in what has been described as an attack on Moscow’s supply chains and to hurt the Russian economy.On Monday, the Financial Times reported that US President Donald Trump spoke to Zelenskyy on Sunday, urging him to stop attacking Russian refineries over concerns that it was worsening the global shortage of diesel and causing fuel prices to increase.