Sichen: Ukraine's answer to Geranium
The Sichen UAV at an exhibition in April 2026. Photo: Amalantra.ru
Over several years of operation, Russian Geran-2 attack drones in various modifications have demonstrated high effectiveness. Against this backdrop, Ukraine is developing its own line of long-range weapons. The latest such development is the Sichen UAV, first unveiled several weeks ago.
First mentions
At the end of March, Russia's Rubicon Center for Advanced Unmanned Systems published another video demonstrating destroyed Ukrainian UAVs. Along with drones A new example of a previously known type was captured on camera. The delta-winged UAV was designated "Sichen" (Ukrainian for "January").
Apparently, this was the first mention of the device in open sources. The publication indicated that a new attack UAV had entered service with Ukrainian forces and had begun its combat use. Details were lacking at the time.
In mid-April, an exhibition featuring the official premiere of the Sichen took place in Kyiv. At the event, the drone or its mockup was unveiled, and its main specifications were revealed. The device was showcased under the general brand of the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine; the specific developer and development timeline were not publicly disclosed.
According to the Ukrainian side, the Sichen was developed as a long-range weapon for striking important targets deep behind enemy lines. In terms of overall concept, it is a close analogue of the Iranian Shahed-136 and the Russian Geran-2, although in terms of weight and payload, the Sichen falls into a lighter class than the Geran-2—more on this below.
Rear view. Photo by Amalantra.ru
Technical features
The Sichen is a fixed-wing UAV, built using a tailless design. Its appearance and design are similar to several modern foreign models. Whether any original technical solutions were used in the project is unknown.
The UAV has an airframe made of composites or plastic. The cylindrical fuselage with an ogival nose fairing is smoothly connected to a delta mid-wing. Fins are mounted on the wingtips. The warhead and control instruments are housed within the fuselage. A hatch is provided on top for maintenance and installation, and a navigation and/or communications antenna is also installed. The engine is mounted in the rear of the fuselage without being cowled.
The UAV's length and wingspan do not exceed a few meters. According to data presented at the exhibition, the maximum launch weight is 140 kg, of which 40 kg is payload.
The Sichen is equipped with a four-cylinder gasoline engine of an unknown model. Based on its takeoff weight and cruising speed, which is comparable to piston-engine UAVs of a similar class, the power of such a vehicle can be estimated at 50-70 hp. It uses a two-bladed fixed-pitch pusher propeller. The stated flight parameters are generally typical of similar UAVs:
- maximum speed - 200 km / h;
- flight ceiling - 1500 m;
- flight range - 1400 km.
The control system, according to available data, is relatively simple: an autopilot and navigation aids, presumably satellite and inertial. The Sichen is designed to engage stationary targets with predetermined coordinates. Two-way communication with the operator, including for updating the flight program, has not been confirmed in open sources. Hit accuracy is stated at 20 meters (CEP).
The drone is reportedly capable of carrying warheads of various types and purposes; specific variants were not disclosed. These likely include high-explosive fragmentation, incendiary, and other single-warhead designs.
Sichen as seen by an interceptor drone, March 2026. Photo by Rubicon Center.
Like other similar UAVs, the Sichen is designed to use a catapult launch system. The unmanned system is generally mobile. It is claimed to take off in no more than 15 minutes after reaching the launch position.
A place in the Ukrainian line of long-range UAVs
The Sichen isn't just appearing out of nowhere: for several years now, Ukraine has been using a whole family of long-range drones to strike targets deep within Russian territory—the UJ-22, the Lyutiy (aka An-196), the FP-1, the Bobr, and a number of lesser-known models. Most of these are piston-engine aircraft with a takeoff weight of 100 to 250 kg.
Against this backdrop, the Sichen, with a launch weight of 140 kg and a payload of 40 kg, is positioned closer to the bottom of the line—between the early Bobr missiles and the FP-1—rather than in the same category as the Geran-2, which has roughly twice these parameters. This changes the framework for a valid comparison: the Sichen is not a direct analogue of the Geran-2, but rather another cheap, expendable carrier in the general mass of Ukrainian strike weapons. drones.
Combat use and declared capabilities
Based on available data, Ukrainian companies have established at least small-scale production of the Sichen. The equipment is being delivered to units, and its combat use has been documented. No widespread use of the Sichen has yet been reported.
The reasons for the limited distribution are not commented on in open sources. There are several possible explanations: the early stage of production, a specialized niche within the already saturated lineup of Ukrainian attack UAVs, production secrecy, and general capacity and funding constraints. Which of these explanations is closer to reality cannot be determined from open sources.
The Ukrainian side and sympathetic publications offer a more expansive description of "Sichen." According to them, the device has undergone operational testing in combat conditions, entered series production, and its production is organized according to a decentralized scheme—with the production of key components distributed across various sites and final assembly in hidden workshops. They also report the use of imported civilian components and a deliberate secrecy of information—primarily to protect against missile strikes. This information comes primarily from interested parties and has not yet been verified by independent sources.
Within this framework, the Sichen is positioned as a low-cost, expendable carrier for strikes against oil depots, refineries, logistics hubs, and airfields at ranges exceeding 1000 km—that is, as part of a strategy of economic attrition for air defense: expensive anti-aircraft missiles versus cheap drones. This argument is one side of the debate about long-range UAVs in general, and its applicability to the Sichen depends primarily on the actual—not stated—cost and production rate, which are unknown.
Tactical context and air defense capabilities
The practice of recent months shows that Defense The Russian army's system is capable of promptly detecting, suppressing, or engaging a wide variety of attack UAVs. However, the tactical context of deployment must be taken into account: for several years, the Ukrainian side has been using combined waves of different types of UAVs with different trajectories, speeds, and flight times. In this scenario, individual technically imperfect models gain a chance of passing not because of their own characteristics, but because they overload detection and interception systems.
In terms of design, the Sichen, according to available information, does not offer any fundamentally new solutions for the Russian air defense system compared to other Ukrainian long-range UAVs. If this assessment is correct—and a comparison with specific UAVs in the line has not yet been conducted in open sources—then the device poses no new challenges, other than a possible increase in the overall number of aerial targets.
The guidance system is a separate issue. Wreckage reports on Ukrainian long-range UAVs in general (primarily the Lyutiy and similar platforms) document the use of interference-resistant antennas such as the CRPA and optical terrain correction elements. The CRPA antenna is an adaptive array capable of programmatically suppressing the direction of electronic interference while maintaining satellite signal reception from anti-aircraft directions. Optical comparators are a system in which the onboard camera compares the actual image of the underlying surface with preloaded images of control points and corrects the inertial navigation, preventing it from drifting at long ranges. Technologically, this is the same logic as the American DSMAC, used in Tomahawk cruise missiles.
As for the Sichen, there's insufficient direct confirmation in open sources at the time of writing that this particular suite of systems is installed. However, the combination of jam-resistant navigation and optical correction is the logical direction to look for an explanation for the claimed accuracy of approximately 20 meters without operator control.
Concept and its implementation
The Sichen was developed based on an existing concept implemented in several foreign projects. Adjusting for different weight classes, a formal comparison with the Geran-2 is still revealing: a range of 1400 km versus estimates of 1500 km or more for the Geran-2 (the range of estimates in open sources is wide, so a single figure comparison is tentative), and a combat load of 40 kg versus approximately twice that. Russia and Iran are also developing improved versions with turbojet engines and expanded control systems, including optoelectronic systems and the ability to operate directly from the operator. Whether a similar upgrade for the Sichen is possible is unknown.
In this context, it's worth remembering that the Shahed-136 in 2022 looked significantly more modest than its current versions: the original platform has undergone significant modernization over the past few years. Whether the Ukrainian aircraft will follow a similar development path depends on the developer's resources and the extent to which Ukraine actually needs this niche, given the availability of other long-range UAVs.
Overall, the Sichen resembles early versions of Russian and Iranian drones, similar to the American LUCAS project. This is one attempt to build a viable long-range vehicle based on an already proven concept. Whether it meets expectations will depend primarily on the pace of production, rather than the characteristics of the individual drones.
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