this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
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At a secret workshop in Ukraine’s north-east, where about 20 people assemble hundreds of FPV (first person view) drones, there is a new design. Under the frame of the familiar quadcopter is a cylinder, the size of a forearm. Coiled up inside is fibre optic cable, 10km (6 miles) or even 20km long, to create a wired kamikaze drone.

Capt Yuriy Fedorenko, the commander of a specialist drone unit, the Achilles regiment, says fibre optic drones were an experimental response to battlefield jamming and rapidly took off late last year. With no radio connection, they cannot be jammed, are difficult to detect and able to fly in ways conventional FPV drones cannot.

“If pilots are experienced, they can fly these drones very low and between the trees in a forest or tree line. If you are flying with a regular drone, the trees block the signal unless you have a re-transmitter close,” he observes. Where tree lined supply roads were thought safer, fibre optic drones have been able to get through.

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[–] bassomitron@lemmy.world 58 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (52 children)

Wouldn't the fiber lead directly back to the pilot, though? You'd have to constantly be moving locations, otherwise they could just follow the wire.

Edit: I know, I know, the more I've thought about it--and despite them actually proving it's possible to do as mentioned in the article--it's just not very practical to do in many situations. As one commenter mentioned below, after seeing pictures of some trees, numerous drones create a web among trees/bushes/etc. So tracing lines when drones are launched from multiple locations would be extremely difficult and they could even set up ambushed at certain points if they saw enemy scouts doing it.

[–] tux7350@lemmy.world 23 points 1 month ago (19 children)

This is not new tech. We have been using wires like this in the battlefield since the 70's. I was a TOW gunner and shot plenty of missiles that have a wire like this drone. Except, ya know it's a missile and it moves significantly faster. TOW stands for Tube launched Opitically Wire guided missile.

Ask away if you wanna know anything about em.

[–] noughtnaut@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (6 children)

What kind of comms do the wires allow? Sending guidance and simultaneously receiving video?

What was the physicality of wires back then (and do you know what they are today)? Would it feel like walking into a spider's web, or how sturdy were/are those wires?

How often would a write break, and would that mean total loss of control or is there some form of fall-back?

Curious minds want to know! Thank you.

[–] tux7350@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

People who play War Thunder want to know lol you can actually find cut outs that show the internals online. The TOW has been around for awhile.

But the wires were for X and Y navigation. Theres an IR beacon that flashes out the back of the missile. The camera sees the beacon and when you move the controls the missile will follow. Theres a Russian T90 tank that has a defense system that spoofs the beacon. Looks like headlights, called the Shtora-1 check it out.

Wire was made out of the thinnest, strongest metal I've ever seen. It would cut your boot if you snagged it and pulled, but it could be cut with scissors.

If you lost a wire the missile would go erratic and would lose control depending on which wire was lost. Really depened on what youre trying to shoot over if you broke a wire. Can't shoot over buildings.

My favorite fact though, it flys above the tank! Search YouTube for a slow mo and you'll see what i mean. Explodes from above.

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