Ukraine has given a new technological turn in his war against Russia, and that is that in full career to dominate airspace, he has begun to deploy drones impossible to block. He has achieved it with a technology that we use every day to connect to the Internet: the optical fiber.
The most recent reports suggest that kyiv has used drones connected by fiber optic cables during attacks in the Russian region of Krasnodaron the Black Sea coast. Thanks to that physical connection between the drone and its operator, the signal remains stable even in areas saturated by the electronic war, which disables communications by radio or microwave weapons.
It is an advance that changes the rules of the game in a conflict where each technological innovation can decide who controls airspace. These drones, launched from unmanned maritime platforms, act as remote extensions that can fly without interference.
Its development is not simple, but its tactical potential is huge. Given this, Ukraine could be opening the way to a new stage in the electronic war, where to return to the cable is the most effective way to maintain control in this new era of wars.
Drones with optical fiber is the answer against electronic warfare
From the beginning of the Russian invasion, Drones have gone from being simple recognition tools to become protagonists of the conflict. Russia has deployed swarms from Shahed drones, of Iranian manufacturing, capable of mass attacking and low cost.
Each one costs a few thousand euros, while knocking them down with missiles or anti -aircraft systems can multiply that expense by ten. The equation was unsustainable, and Ukraine needed a cheaper and more flexible defense.
The answer came with the new FPV Ukrainian drones, which are physically connected to the operator by means of a fiber optic cable that can extend several kilometers.
This cable, as thin as a thread, maintains the transmission of video and control without interference risk. Russian blockers, which saturate the air with signs to disable drones, lose efficacy against this technology.
From a vehicle or sea drone – the so -called «nodriza ship» – The operator launches the drone, which flies following the cable until reaching its goal. Thus avoids any signal loss and achieves millimeter precision even in areas where traditional systems fail.
These Ukrainian naval platforms have become mobile knots, capable of approaching the enemy coast without depending on land bases.
From there the drones equipped with fiber optics are released to attack objectives such as refineries, ports or logistics centers. In the recent attacks against Tuapse and Novalossiysk, both in Russian territory, it is suspected that this type of hybrid systems were used for the first time.
Advantages and limitations of fiber optics
The main attraction of these drones is their immunity against interference because they maintain a stable and continuous video signal, which makes them ideal for precision attacks, sabotages or missions in which radio drones cannot operate.
In electronic war environments, where the signal is constantly blocked or distorted, this direct connection offers a huge tactical advantage. However, not everything is advantages, and that is that the use of cable implies weight gain, which reduces the speed and payload of drone.
Its scope is also limited by the length of the reel, and engineers must seek a balance between lightness and autonomy. Therefore, both Ukraine and Russia are experiencing with hybrid systems, in which land or sea vehicles approach the target before releasing the drone, thus reducing the distance that the cable needs to cover.
Engineers already work in specialized versions to attack Russian electronic warfare systems, which try to block their drones. Its objective is to open a clean window in the airspace, free of interference, so that conventional drones can then operate without problems.
In that sense, unmanned fiber optic aircraft function as an electronic attack first line, capable of neutralizing enemy shields and facilitating the advancement of drone swarms.
What is happening in Ukraine does not go unnoticed, especially since NATO countries, the United States or Taiwan are already studying the possibility of integrating drones with cable connection into their defense programs.
It is for this reason that The use of optical fiber as a military weapon is a deep change in the war strategysince returning to the physical, to the cable, can recover control in an environment dominated by wireless signals.
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Tags: drones