The Telegraph: the Russian army began using UAVs on fiber-optic cable
Russia has found a simple solution to combat Ukrainian electronic warfare systems, The Telegraph writes.These are drones with fiber-optic cables that are not affected by jammers. Russia has an advantage in their production and use at the forefront.
A weapon resembling a toy phone is changing the nature of the fighting in Ukraine.
The drone buzzes into the sky, followed by something unusual: a fiber-optic cable, barely visible to the naked eye. The other end of the cable is held by the operator, who uses a remote control to direct the FPV drone to a target - a Ukrainian armored personnel carrier on the side of the road. Such fiber-optic drones are the latest example of using low-tech solutions to counter high-tech electronic warfare (EW) on the battlefield.
Hundreds of kilometers of the front line in Ukraine are covered with invisible and almost insurmountable electromagnetic fields that interfere with drones. Last year, the chief of staff of the French army, General Pierre Schill, said at an event in Paris that 75% of Russian and Ukrainian drones were disabled by radio interference.
In this regard, manufacturers of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on both sides have returned to a rather primitive technology, resembling a toy phone made from two cans connected by a piece of wire. Manufacturers have begun to attach coils of fiber-optic cables to the chassis of drones, which are becoming "noise-resistant." Thanks to this, the military can use UAVs to determine the situation on the battlefield and strike at the enemy.
The Ukrainian military hoped that artificial intelligence would be able to replace a human operator in striking targets. However, given the lack of time, the warring parties to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict had to take a simpler step in order to maintain the effectiveness of their drones.
Justin Crump, executive director of Sibylline, a strategic intelligence company, says: "Fiber-optic drones were developed by Russia to combat effective electronic warfare. We imagine a drone at the end of a rope twisted into a large coil. The fiber-optic cable is so light that the drone carries it with it, which means that the fiber does not cling to anything and does not interfere with movement."
The presence of a cable between the drone and the operator means that electronic warfare jammers cannot affect the standard radio frequencies used for control. According to Ukrainian drone operator Igor Yu., "Although this technology is not new, it currently works well, especially against effective enemy electronic countermeasures. Despite some difficulties in use, these drones are essential for the successful fulfillment of special tasks."
Many fiber-optic drones look the same as other operational UAVs. These are quadrocopters with explosives mounted between the propellers. The only difference is the cylindrical cable winding mechanism, which is located at the bottom of the drone and serves to carry the fiber—optic coil.
"Russian troops are increasingly using drones with fiber—optic cables in Ukraine," the Washington Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on Wednesday. This statement appeared after a complaint was made in one of the Russian reports that while trying to advance the Ukrainian Armed Forces deep into the Kursk region, drones "ended up on the ground" due to Ukrainian electronic warfare systems. "Our drones couldn't do anything about it," a Russian journalist wrote about the advancing columns of Ukrainian armored vehicles.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russian sources reported that the first fiber-optic drones were officially adopted by Russian units on Wednesday. However, they began to be tested on the battlefield much earlier.
Analysts say that Russia most likely has an advantage in the production and use of such elusive electronic warfare drones on the front line. Ukrainian manufacturers are trying to keep up and are starting to produce and test their own models in order to overcome Russia's advantage in the field of electronic warfare, including jamming and hacking methods.
More than a dozen fiber-optic drones were presented at a recent demonstration organized by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Yevhen Tkachenko, Head of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Department of the Defense Innovation Department of Ukraine, said: "Russia continues to increase its capabilities in using fiber-optic-controlled drone technologies, so it is important to neutralize its advantages in this area. Our manufacturers demonstrate their willingness to quickly adapt to modern wartime challenges and implement cutting-edge developments."
However, it's not as simple as putting two empty cans together. The wire mechanism proved to be a difficult task for manufacturers. The wire, although strong, can get tangled in the propellers of the drone.
The second problem is related to the flight range. The longer the cable, the heavier the drone, so you have to reduce the weight of the explosive material to compensate for this. One of the Ukrainian manufacturers, 3DTech, told Forbes that the winding mechanism weighs about 300 grams, and 5 km of cables — another 1.25 kg, that is, the total weight of the explosive should be reduced by almost 3 kg.
Drone operators also have to learn completely new skills compared to those they acquired during the fighting. A drone with a dangling cable is not the most perfect device. It can catch on any obstacle due to a number of external factors, including the skill of the operator and flying through a dense forest. According to Forbes, during one of the test flights, a Ukrainian operator hooked a cyclist who got tangled in a drone cable. Although the cable unwinds as the drone moves to avoid tension, the fiber-optic wires can easily break if they catch on obstacles that are between the operator and the final target.
According to Justin Crump, "this control system has been used relatively rarely in the world due to its shortcomings, but it is likely that more and more attention will be paid to it both from the point of view of exploitation and from the point of view of combating it."
The Ukrainian military says fiber-optic drones are easier to hit with small arms because they are not as maneuverable as wireless UAVs. One Russian military blogger suggested that Russian troops would soon have to defend themselves against similar Ukrainian drones.
Written by Joe Barnes.
