Advanced Russian FPV Drones Outmaneuver Electronic Warfare with Innovative Use of Fibre Optic Cables
– We saw something we’ve never seen before. The Russian FPV drone flew to its target carrying a fibre optic cable reel approximately 10 km long. The cable was unwinding in mid-air. This introduces us to new drone control technology – explains Serhij Beskrestnow on Telegram, discussing the equipment discovered in Ukraine.
The Ukrainians closely examined the Russian drone and found a large fibre optic spool inside, which would unwind during its flight. This approach is theorised to grant pilots the ability to maintain a constant and uninterrupted high-quality video signal. This has at least two key benefits.
The first concerns the ability to strike with precision thanks to enhanced visibility (improved quality of the transmitted image) over conventional radio-controlled drones. The second benefit is that a drone guided by a fibre optic cable is immune to electronic warfare systems, making it invulnerable to interception during an attack.
The Unian agency highlights another advantage of using fibre optic communication between the drone and pilot. It eliminates the issue known as "radio horizon," which is a disconnection observed in the final phase of the flight (just before the attack, the so-called dive) at a significant distance from the drone.
This is crucial, as it guarantees the drone will hit its target at the moment of attack – unlike radio-controlled models that, after losing the pilot's signal before the strike, may miss their target significantly.
Beskrestnow notes that this essentially is technology that Ukrainian engineers once proposed but was not adopted because of concerns over effectiveness. This was mainly due to the risk of breaking the fibre optic strands and losing the drone. The expert recommended a closer examination of the technology used by the Russians, so the Ukrainians "do not find themselves behind the enemy".
