Fiber optic drone

A fiber optic drone is an uncrewed vehicle, typically an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (usually a first person view (FPV) loitering munition) which uses an optical fiber as its primary guidance and teleoperation link. These drones usually have fiber optic cables between 5 and 20 km long, although prototypes with up to 50 km range have been developed.[1] They are impossible for defence forces to jam and very difficult to detect.[2]

History

In the early 2000’s, US military research agency DARPA developed an idea for a loitering munition controlled by fiber-optic cable under the Close Combat Lethal Recon program, but it was never fielded.[3]

Fiber optic FPV drones were fielded by Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian War in the spring of 2024 and by Ukraine soon after.[4][5][3]

Both Ukraine and Russia rely on electronic warfare to defeat FPV drones. Jammers are used on trenches and vehicles.[6] Pocket-size jammers for soldiers were also developed.[7] As of June 2023, Ukraine was losing 5-10,000 drones a month, or 160 per day, according to Ukrainian soldiers.[8]

This has led to Russia creating wire-guided FPV drones, similar in concept to wire-guided missiles or wire-guided torpedoes.

Characteristics

Wired guidance makes the link between operators and drones immune to jamming.[9] It also allows for much faster and better quality updates from the drone, even from locations where radio contact would be poor, and doesn't reveal operator's or drone's location by radio signals.[10][11] They also need less power to communicate, and so can be used to idle on the ground for ambushes.[12] They have reduced range, payload and maneuverability compared to wireless drones,[13][14] although in practice, range and agility of the wired drones can be even higher than those of the radio-controlled ones, given their increased survivability and reduced control latency.[15] The fiber-optic cord can get tangled up by trees.[16]

Fiber controlled drones typically have spool lengths less than 25 km. Common lengths include spools from 2 to 15 km with the weight of the spool ranging from 300 to 2000 grams. Low cost fiber conversion kits from China are common as of 2025, but there is a large push in the western military world to develop domestic products. Western militaries are pushing companies such as SEDI-ATI and L3 Harris to develop fiber spools for this application, and they are hitting the market as of mid 2025. Currently the control protocol used by most fiber controlled drones is a digital link. Typically the RF receiver is moved from the drone to the ground station, and the serial protocol is transported over the fiber between the RF receiver and the flight controller. Future approaches include transporting broadband RF to eliminate the link manufacturer ability to view or effect the control signal. US based companies such as Optical Zonu are pioneering this approach.

Environmental concerns

The long trails of fiber optic cable left behind the drones on the battlefield may be a significant source of plastic pollution because most of the cables are made from synthetic polymers such as poly(methyl methacrylate) and fluoropolymers.[17][18]

See also

References

  1. ^ Hambling, David (6 June 2025). "Fiber Optic Bird's Nest Heralds A Fiber Drone Summer In Ukraine". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
  2. ^ "Israel to expand use of fiber-optic guided drones". Globes. 2024-11-19. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  3. ^ a b Hambling, David. "Russian Fiber Optic Drone Beats Any Jammer (UPDATE: Ukraine Version)". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2025-05-04. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  4. ^ Altman, Howard. "Inside Ukraine's Fiber-Optic Drone War". twz.com. The War Zone. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  5. ^ "How Do Fiber Optic Drones Work? Everything You Need To Know". 2025-01-09. Archived from the original on 2025-05-04. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  6. ^ "Ukrainian EW developer on anti-drone warfare – interview". New Voice of Ukraine. 3 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  7. ^ Oleksandr Tartachnyi (21 March 2024). "The Invisible War: Inside the electronic warfare arms race that could shape course of war in Ukraine". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  8. ^ SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR (13 June 2023). "Dumb and cheap: When facing electronic warfare in Ukraine, small drones' quantity is quality". Breaking Defense.
  9. ^ JOSEPH TREVITHICK; TYLER ROGOWAY (8 March 2024). "Russia Now Looks To Be Using Wire-Guided Kamikaze Drones In Ukraine". TWZ.
  10. ^ Mittal, Vikram. "Ukraine And Russia Battle To Defeat "Un-jammable" Fiber-Optic Drones". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-01-26.
  11. ^ Panella, Chris. "Russia appears to be using wired, unjammable fiber-optic drones that could fix a big problem its operators have faced in this war". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
  12. ^ Hambling, David. "New Drone Tactics Sealed Russian Victory In Kursk". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
  13. ^ "Institute for the Study of War". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 2024-10-31. A spokesperson of a Ukrainian brigade operating in the Zaporizhia Oblast reported on October 29 that Russian forces began using first person view drones with fiber optic wires stretching up to 10 kilometers in length against Ukrainian forces in the Zaporizhia direction. The spokesperson added that these drones are reportedly immune to Ukrainian electronic warfare (EW) systems and that Ukrainian personnel had to shoot down these drones with small arms. The spokesperson observed that these drones are susceptible to air defense systems, have greatly limited ranges, and are ineffective in dense urban settings.
  14. ^ Barnes, Joe (2025-01-10). "How Russia created 'unjammable' drone with a retro twist". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
  15. ^ O'Grady, Siobhán; Khudov, Kostiantyn; Korolchuk, Serhii; Horton, Alex; Burianova, Tetiana; Morgunov, Serhiy; Karklis, Laris (2025-05-23). "Ukraine scrambles to overcome Russia's edge in fiber-optic drones". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
  16. ^ "Fibre optic drones: The terrifying new weapon changing the war in Ukraine". BBC. 28 May 2025.
  17. ^ Wang, Sherri; Chang, Rod. "Fiber-Optic drones revolutionize warfare but leave toxic footprint in Ukraine". digitimes.com. DigiTimes. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  18. ^ Moreland, Leon. "Plastic pollution from fibre optic drones may threaten wildlife for years". Conflict and Environmental Observatory. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
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