Ukrainian Troops Follow Fiber Optic Wires To Wipe Out Russian Drone Operators

The advantage of drones guided by fiber optic wire is that electronic warfare systems cannot breach their communications with their controllers. 

The disadvantage is that enemy drone operators can track them by finding the wires and follow them to where the pilots are hidden, thereby exposing them to certain retaliation. JL

Militarnyi reports:

The pilots of the 15th Kara-Dag Brigade used a reconnaissance copter to see a cluster of thin fiber optic wires from enemy FPV drones that gave off glare in the sunlight. Soldiers then eliminated enemy drone operators by detecting them by following fiber optic wires. Five enemy operators were killed on the spot with the help of FPV drones and quadcopter drops. Their location in the Pokrovsk direction, 6 km from the front line on the northern outskirts of Prohres. Drones with wires are immune to electronic warfare systems and have high-quality, uninterrupted video communications. But fiber optic drone pilots run a high risk of revealing themselves due to wires and must frequently change positions

Soldiers of the Ghost of Khortytsia Unmanned Systems Battalion eliminated enemy drone operators by detecting them by following fiber optic wires.

The video of the combat operation was posted on the unit’s page.

The pilots of the 15th Kara-Dag Brigade used a reconnaissance copter to see a cluster of thin fiber optic wires from enemy FPV drones that gave off a glare in the sunlight.

 

With their help, the guardsmen tracked the drone control station in one of the abandoned buildings where the enemy operators were stationed. Immediately, their own attack drones flew out to eliminate them.

 

Five enemy operators were killed on the spot with the help of FPV drones and quadcopter drops. Moklasen’s analyst geolocated their location in the Pokrovske direction, 6 km from the front line on the northern outskirts of Prohres.

At a time when the use of attack drones controlled by fiber optics instead of radio communication is being actively popularized, this event is extremely important as it shows the vulnerability of the tactics of using new weapons and should be a lesson for Ukrainian operators.

Unlike attack drones with traditional communication systems, fiber optic drone pilots run a high risk of disguising themselves with wires and must frequently change positions to protect themselves.

However, even such disadvantages are acceptable compared to the advantages of the new technology: drones with wired communication are completely immune to electronic warfare systems and have a high-quality and uninterrupted video communication channel, which enables them to maneuver smoothly in the most difficult environments.

Earlier this year, the Defense Innovation Directorate of the Ministry of Defense demonstrated Ukrainian fiber-optic FPV drones for representatives of the commands of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

 

A number of domestic manufacturers presented more than a dozen models of drones. Some of them are capable of carrying a warhead or other payload weighing up to 3 kilograms.

FPV copter control panel with fiber optic cable control, January 2025. Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

Pilot of a fiber optic FPV drone, January 2025. Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

Fiber optic control cable of an FPV drone, January 2025. Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

Fiber optic control cable of an FPV drone, January 2025. Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

A number of Ukrainian unmanned systems units, such as the 414th Regiment “Madyar’s Birds,” are already successfully using them and further developing the technology, increasing the effective range of use to tens of kilometers.