Ukraine's secret weapon: Fibre optic drones defy Russian jammers
Russian electronic warfare systems pose a significant problem for Ukrainians, who are heavily relying on drones to compensate for their lack of modern weaponry. One of the simplest yet challenging solutions is to communicate with the drone via fibre optics. We explain how it works and what it offers.
In recent months, Ukrainians have been successfully using FPV drones or "Baba Yaga" to attack Russians, but this has not always been the case. For example, during the unsuccessful summer counteroffensive in 2023 and part of the fighting over Avdiivka, Ukrainian improvised drones were grounded.
Therefore, the current effectiveness will not last forever, as Russians can once again adapt their most common jammers to the frequencies used by Ukrainians. These mainly rely on commercial solutions from China, which are not on par with the few strictly military systems.
In such a case, the only solution will be drones that use artificial intelligence algorithms in the final attack phase, or constructions that communicate with the control station via a cable.
In the case of mass-produced drones based on commercial components, the first concept is still a thing of the future. The second is practically a miniaturisation of a solution used for decades in anti-tank-guided missiles. This is precisely the direction taken by the German company Highcat, which is designing its HCX drone, which is currently being tested in Ukraine.
"Cable" drone - despite limited range, it has many advantages
The HCX drone communicates with the base station via a deployable fibre optic cable, which does not add more than 0.3 kilograms of weight and does not create significant drag. The drone is also designed to operate without issues, even when flying over trees. According to the manufacturer, the HCX's range is 15 kilometres, which is impressive.
Fibre optics means the drone is completely passive and does not emit radio signals, as all transmission occurs via the fibre optic cable. This makes it impossible to jam or intercept the video transmission, essentially making the HCX drone undetectable.
With the widespread use of drones in Ukraine, many soldiers are equipped with personal drone detectors with a range of 1-2 kilometres. They function based on radio signals emitted by drones, which are simply absent in the case of a cable solution. For this reason, mass-produced tethered drones could significantly ease the situation for Ukrainian drone operators.
