For months, Russia has ramped up its deployment of fiber-optic drones, which are steered by the same data-transporting cables made of glass that revolutionized high-speed internet access. While the cables can occasionally tangle, cutting off the signal, they also give the weapon a major advantage because they cannot be disrupted by jamming systems.
Russian troops have used the weapons, which have a range of up to 12 miles, to destroy Ukrainian equipment and control key logistics routes, particularly in Russia’s western Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops say the new technology contributed to their recent painful retreat.
Russia’s fiber-optic drones, which have a longer battery life and more-precise targeting than wireless models, vastly outnumbered Ukraine’s drones on the battlefield in Kursk, giving Russia a key advantage and making movement so risky that Ukrainian troops were at times stranded on the front line without food, ammunition or escape routes, soldiers said.
Ukraine is also using fiber-optic drones in Kursk and elsewhere, though in significantly smaller numbers as it races to catch up with Russia’s mass production of the devices, in what soldiers and experts describe as the first time Russia has surpassed Ukraine in front-line drone technology since the full-scale invasion in 2022.
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The cable greatly improves image quality and allows pilots to navigate more-complicated landscapes without losing their connection. They are also able to fly closer to the ground, making it easier to sneak up on enemy troops and perform more-complicated maneuvers, although certain sharp turns can be hampered by the cable.
Longer battery life means they can spend more time waiting for a target. But these advantages come with a cost: One drone can run more than twice the price of its predecessor.
Fiber-optic drones remain in the minority on the front line, but demand from Ukrainian troops has dramatically increased in recent months, said Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister for digital transformation, who is deeply involved in drone development and weapons distribution.
Of Ukraine’s roughly 500 drone manufacturers, he said, at least 15 are now developing fiber-optic drones. An additional 20 are making the cylindrical coils that carry the cable, which is still being imported for now.
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“You can use it in almost every weather condition and on every terrain,” he said, including in urban areas. “Definitely everyone needs fiber-optic drones.”
The next step in defending against these drones will be to find ways to quickly trace the tangled cables back to the launching points and identify and target key military positions. Whether Russia or Ukraine will hold the front-line drone advantage in the future, Fedorov said, “depends on who will find the pathway and identify the starting point first.”
Rapid advances in jamming and spoofing—the only efficient defense against drone attacks—set the team on an unceasing marathon of innovation. Its latest technology is a neural-network-driven optical navigation system, which allows the drone to continue its mission even when all radio and satellite-navigation links are jammed. It began tests in Ukraine in December, part of a trend toward jam-resistant, autonomous UAVs (uncrewed aerial vehicles). The new fliers herald yet another phase in the unending struggle that pits drones against the jamming and spoofing of electronic warfare, which aims to sever links between drones and their operators. There are now tens of thousands of jammers straddling the front lines of the war, defending against drones that are not just killing soldiers but also destroying armored vehicles, other drones, industrial infrastructure, and even tanks.
From the article:
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How Ukraine’s killer drones are beating Russian jamming (IEEE Spectrum)