How fiber optic drones reshaped the battlefield in Ukraine
The war in Ukraine, aside from mines and various unexploded ordnance, also leaves behind another very dangerous trap resembling a web. We explain how these were created and the threat these fibre optic networks pose.
Both Ukrainians and Russians have recently started to intensively use FPV drones controlled via deployed fibre optics. Their advantage is a complete resistance to electronic warfare systems, but their drawback is limited range and practicality. The drone, besides a combat head and battery, also needs to carry a spool with fibre optic cable, usually sufficient for 10-20 kilometres of flight, though there are models with greater range.
Their widespread use creates networks of fibre optics in combat regions, like the one visible below. The photo is purportedly from the Kursk region near a Ukrainian trench, but similar scenes are becoming the norm along the entire combat line.
On the other hand, the fibre optics allow for easy identification of the opponent's drone operators' location after a battle, as you can literally "follow the thread to the end." Such knowledge can provide information about the tactics of deploying drone operators or the structure of their hideouts.
Fibre optic networks in Ukraine — a particular problem for pilots
In the case of a successful or unsuccessful attack, the drone is destroyed, but kilometres of fibre optics remain, creating networks that, with mass usage, can have strength comparable to electrical wires.
Due to their low cost, few are likely to bother collecting the fibre optics after the war, unlike scrap metal. They will thus pose a significant threat to helicopters from the military, police, rescue, or civilian sectors for decades.
According to the EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency), collisions with wires cause fatalities in about 30 percent of accidents and up to 60 percent during flights in difficult conditions based on instruments or at night. Although virtually all helicopters are equipped with so-called wire-strike protection systems in the upper and lower sections of the fuselage designed to cut wires, this does not guarantee 100 percent effectiveness. A line can still potentially go over it and become entangled in the main rotor.
