Such devices forced the Ukrainian Armed Forces to urgently review the principles of protection against UAVs.
Fiber-optic cable-controlled drones have become an unpleasant surprise for the enemy. They turned out to be invulnerable to the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since they cannot be "blinded" by electronic warfare (EW). These devices have already caused enormous damage to the enemy and forced him to urgently reconsider the principles of anti-drone defense. And in the West, they managed to be called the unstoppable. Izvestia learned about how fiber-optic FPV drones are used from the operators of the UAV group "Center".
Optical fiber in the fields
A special training ground for UAV "pilots", as drone operators are also called, does not look like a smooth field with a "clear sky". Various types of targets are installed on it, fortified positions and various types of shelters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are modeled. And the "pilots" also equip positions for themselves, depending on the types of vehicles.
Some work from dugouts, others from forest plantations with appropriate camouflage.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
I am watching the preparation of a fiber-optic UAV for combat. A few simple manipulations and the usual FPV drone is retrofitted with a fiber optic coil. The compact and relatively lightweight design makes it possible to wind several kilometers of optical fiber onto a coil. It is connected to a ground control device via a special connector.
When flying over a fiber-optic cable, information is exchanged between the drone and the operator, which allows precise strikes against the enemy. For the same reason, such an electronic warfare device is not terrible — there are simply no radio control channels that they jam.
There are only a few seconds left before the flight, the operator puts on glasses, which have become one of the most recognizable symbols of his career over the past two years.
"Without optical fiber, it was not easy for us to work in situations when the enemy started jamming electronic warfare drones," says Private Alexei Biryukov, an instructor at the Center group. — Our control picture "flew off", we lost the drones. Optical fiber is the salvation. You can't drown us out with electronic warfare anymore. At the same time, I can perform any maneuvers that are inaccessible to anti-tank missile systems (ATGM). I can slow down, accompany the equipment, hover and observe.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
The fighters say that the fiber reserve carried by the UAV eats up part of the potential combat load. But in return, the operator receives a stable signal at all stages of the flight.
Such a drone combines the best qualities of an FPV drone and an anti-tank missile system (ATGM) with wired control, the fighters say.
In some areas of the front, according to them, when moving in the fields, the legs become entangled in fiber from drones, as before in the wire from ATGM.
Tactics of using drones
Our army uses fiber-optic UAVs most actively in the Kursk region, and they are available in other areas. In particular, they are working near Pokrovsky (Krasnoarmeysky) in the DPR, where our troops are now advancing.
The devices are usually used to strike infantry and equipment on the line of contact and in the immediate rear.
The commander of the Akhmat special forces reconnaissance group with the call sign Aid, whose unit operates in the Kursk region, told Izvestia that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were not ready for the appearance of fiber-optic drones last year.
In the August offensive, Ukrainian units tried to use Marder or Bradley armored vehicles with electronic warfare to organize anti—drone defense - they squared them to close the space inside the formation from air attacks. But their hopes were not fulfilled. Armored vehicles with electronic warfare were burned by fiber-optic drones. After that, the enemy, who remained without an umbrella, was destroyed.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
Our troops have already worked out the tactics of using drones, which is immediately evident at the training ground. There are usually three people in a group of small UAVs. Today, this is practically the standard that has developed on the basis of combat experience.
In addition to the two pilots, there is a third fighter in the group, a sapper who helps prepare ammunition and checks the terrain. He is also responsible for the group's defense during sorties — the operators are wearing glasses at this time and cannot observe the sky around them. The fighters of these groups are trained to ensure maximum interchangeability.
Anticipate the enemy's actions
The fighters are trained by experienced instructors. Alexey Biryukov is from the Chelyabinsk region. Since 2023, it has been operating various types of kamikaze FPV. He began his military career in 2022: first as an employee of the PMCs, and then signed a contract as a soldier of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Until 2023, Alexey was a fighter of assault groups, and only after being wounded, when he was physically unable to perform combat missions, he completed training and became a "pilot" of a UAV.
— When working with UAVs, the experience of a stormtrooper gives me a great advantage. Since I myself worked on the line of contact and participated in the assaults, I know all the movements where the enemy can hide, I can predict all his actions," explains Alexey.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
He says that the appearance of drones on optical fiber has become a new stage in his work.
He shows a fiber-optic cable and demonstrates with his hands how strong and elastic it is compared, for example, with a copper wire.
It was the mechanical vulnerability of the wire that caused the main concerns of those who had not dealt with such UAVs, but in the end they turned out to be in vain.
Optical fiber solves a lot of things
A fiber-optic UAV ensures the safety of the operators themselves. They can operate from cover without installing a relay antenna, which helps to remain invisible to enemy electronic intelligence.
The senior pilot of the Center group, Private Anton Sobolev, talks about another advantage of a fiber—controlled UAV: a high-quality signal when flying at low altitude - close to the ground.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
He joined the army on mobilization, originally from the Tver region. He began his service as a machine gunner and, having already had combat experience on the ground, became a "pilot". He received his knowledge of electronics and radio engineering from his father, who was engaged in communications, and he himself worked as a driver in civilian life.
The West is afraid of the "expendables"
Recently, the official television channel of the British Armed Forces, citing one of the most publicized Ukrainian units of the Magyar Birds UAV, reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine is testing another way to counter the "unstoppable" (in the original — unstopable) Russian fiber—optic drones - they want to shoot them down using an expensive system combining radar and interceptor drones..
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image Source: iz.ru
But after watching the video carefully, you realize that British experts who sympathize with the Ukrainian militants are skeptical about the invention and do not pin serious hopes on such a complex spark.
Dmitry Astrakhan
