this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2025
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Which is significant how / why?
Drone usage has played a big role in the war. Early on they were just dropping explosives on live troops and later started doing kamikaze runs where the drone would detonate on impact. Now drones can even drop anti tank explosives.
As drone usage has increased, this opened the opportunity for units to start deploying signal jamming setups-- such as an infantry unit with a huge array of antennas set up to jam any wireless device within a certain radius. Since drones were operated wirelessly this meant the drones just crashed.
To combat this, both sides have started using fiber optic connections to control the drones. The drones have a spool underneath them with the fiber optic cable and i have seen some advertise a range as far as 40km so far. This means the drones no longer can be jammed like before.
Recently Ukraine announced they have a laser that they can use to shoot down drones as another advancement in the technology.
And all of this IMO is why the war in Ukraine has been allowed to continue. It's live weapon/ technology testing for modern warfare
allowed to continue by who? the way I see it Russia could end the war anytime by just going home
Yes, i agree. I meant other countries haven't given ukraine as much aid as they could, or pressured Russia directly enough to end the war. Other countries are benefiting from the technology advancements being made in Ukraine so they have an interest in giving the minimal help needed to keep the war going.
I think innovation like this, that is so cheap and accessible, is terrible for the super powers. I'm imagining if this type of thing was available in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, the US would have had a MUCH worse time.
I would think it would be in the best interests of any first world country with a tendency toward... wars away from home... to limit the advancement of technology like this.
Yup, on both points. That said, we've only seen what disorganized and underfunded groups struggling to survive could do with the tech in Ukraine. Imagine what a superpower could bring to mass production, long range delivery and mass coordination coupled to a first class military - china or the us. And it's going to be peer adversarial - drones sometimes take out other drones in Ukraine, in the next major conflict we're going to see swarm vs swarm actions.
shit's gonna get crazy fast
You can't jam the signal when it's directly connected. Think ethernet cable to wifi. The war heavily uses drones. It's been a cat and mouse game that Ukraine has been winning and this is the latest innovation.
But wouldn't fiber optic cable over long distance add so much weight as to impede flight or carrying munitions? Is it shockingly lightweight?
A 5 km spool of 50 micrometer fiber weighs approximately 1 kg - but that's a telecom spool. Drone operators use lighter spools and some use 25 micrometer fibers.
Air resistance is considerable, though. Think of a drone carrying a small bucket. And you cannot zigzag under trees - but that's a rare thing to do even with radio control.
Glad to hear that Ukrainians have some fiber system in widespread use. Some projects to assist them are still stuck behind technical obstacles. I think their technicians put in more working hours, and had less formalities that slow down testing.
I recall that in spring, when Ukrainians found the first Russian fiber drone crashed (most people didn't even know of the possibility), a well known radio amateur Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov communicated the design very clearly and posted photos. Obvious message: "they will soon have it working, we need to work hard to get the same or better". The message was received - in many places, not just Ukraine.
Another benefit is that most of the fiber will be on the ground as you get closer to the target. Your drone will get lighter as it flies.
Could you reel it back in after the drone explodes for reuse?
You wouldn't want to. Lives could depend on the next drone's mission, why risk losing it from a kink in the fiber? Also, the time putting it back on reels is better spent elsewhere. Fiber is very, very, very cheap compared to all other expenses in war. You don't collect brass to re-load ammo on the battlefield either.
I'm going to bet they're older spools for tow missiles.
Think fishing line. It's so thin it weighs basically nothing.
Impressive. Thank for the info.
Using wireless to control the drone makes the drone and operator very easy to detect. Controlling via fiber it's mush harder to detect.