Small drones controlled by fiber-optic cables have become so integral to Russian and Ukrainian combat operations that they leave traces of wiring everywhere, turning areas of the battlefield into a tangled web.
The rest of the article below the video:
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Spider web on the battlefield
In a bid to counter widespread electronic warfare, fiber-optic drones are becoming more common on both sides. And thanks to the vast cables stretched across the battlefield, soldiers move with greater caution.
“You see little spider webs and you never know – is it from a fiber-optic drone? Or is it part of a trap?” — Khyzhak, a Ukrainian special operator who, for security reasons, hides his data under his call sign (Khyzhak is “Predator” in Ukrainian) told Business Insider.
Fiber optic, possibly used to guide a Russian kamikaze FPV drone
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Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images/Getty Images
How drones became resistant to interference
Early in the war, first-person view (FPV) drones — small quadcopter-style drones used by both Russia and Ukraine that often carry explosive warheads — relied on radio links. However, both sides quickly figured out how to use signal jammers to stop them.
In response, Russia and Ukraine began developing fiber-optic FPV drones that connected to pilots via spools of long, thin cables. The cables provided a stable connection and made the quadcopters immune to traditional electronic warfare tactics.
Soldiers' best chance at stopping fiber-optic drones is shooting them out of the sky, but it requires precision, quick reaction time and a lot of luck.
Fiber optic drones are connected to operators via long, thin cables.
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Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images
Fiber optic cables, which give these drones their greatest advantage, are also their greatest weakness, as they can get tangled and cause flight to come to a sudden halt. And even if they don't get tangled, the cabling is still left strewn across the battlefield after use.
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Growing threat and technological race
Khyzhak, a soldier with the 4th Ranger Regiment, a Ukrainian special operations unit modeled after its U.S. Army counterparts, said it's common to see fiber optic cables as more of these drones are used and the cables often get tangled in trees and roadside bushes.
The 4th Ranger Regiment shared footage showing Khyzhak, along with two other operators and their driver, narrowly avoiding an attack by a Russian fiber-optic drone while returning to base after a front-line mission.
In the footage, you can see fiber optic cables scattered in a field next to the road and even on Khyzhak's weapon.
“They were everywhere,” he recalls, talking about a September incident in which a driver skillfully avoided a Russian drone flying at them that exploded on the side of the road.
Other battlefield videos show fiber optic cables crisscrossing like spider webs, sometimes only visible in direct sunlight or at certain angles.
Khyzhak said the cables are especially troublesome during night missions, when special operators can't use much light. He described it as a “tactical problem.”
Tangled optical fibers
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Viktor Fridshon/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images / Getty Images
Soldiers can't always tell right away whether it's a harmless fiber-optic cable or something much more dangerous, like a booby trap. This forces them to think carefully about whether they should call in an engineer, destroy the network with explosives, stop, or continue.
This could definitely slow down the mission, Khyzhak said, and becomes more of a concern the closer special operators are to the front lines or if they are working undercover in Russian-held territory.
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New technology changes the rules of the game. Is the world ready for the era of fiber optic drones?
Ukraine and Russia have ramped up production of fiber-optic drones over the past year, and both sides are racing to develop variants that can fly farther across front lines.
For example, Russia has started using fiber-optic drones with a range of 50 km, which exceeds the distance that drones could previously travel. Standard cable lengths usually limit their range to 10-25 km.
In Ukraine, fiber-optic drones have become such a threat to critical supply routes that soldiers have covered roads with mesh to protect vehicles from attacks, though this does not always guarantee their safety.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian defense industry is developing new countermeasures to defend against these drones. These innovations have also attracted the attention of NATO leaders, who are using lessons learned from that war to plan their own military actions.
The article is a translation from the American edition of Business Insider.
