The Armed Forces of Ukraine started using FPV drones on fiber optics: what does it mean

The Russian-Ukrainian war has seen a further increase in the use of unmanned systems on the battlefield. The Russian occupiers have increased the share of attack UAVs with fiber optic control channels.

For their part, the Ukrainian military is responding quickly to the new realities and has also begun to use fiber-optic FPV drones. This was announced by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi.

According to him, enemy attack drones using fiber optic control channel pose a threat to military equipment during its movement. Syrskyi noted that the Armed Forces have also started using FPV drones on fiber optics.

The general noted that fiber-optic drones expand the capabilities to defeat and destroy Russian military equipment and personnel. At the same time, Syrskyi noted the dynamics of increasing the effectiveness and survivability of Ukrainian unmanned systems.

"In total, in December, the operators of the Ukrainian Defense Forces' unmanned aerial vehicles engaged more than 54,000 enemy targets. Kamikaze drones accounted for almost half of this result - 49%. The highest performance was demonstrated by the units of the 46th Airmobile, 57th Motorized Infantry, 28th Mechanized, 35th Marine Brigades and the 3rd Assault Brigade," said Syrskyi.

Fiber-optic attack drones are resistant to enemy electronic countermeasures, because in this case the signal from the operator to the UAV is transmitted via cable instead of radio. In practice, it looks like the drone flies as if tethered to a thin thread, the other end of which is located on the operator's console. This fiber optic thread gradually unwinds from a spool attached to the drone.

To recap, Russians have started using fiber-optic drones on the Pokrovske and Kupyanske directions. Earlier, the Russian military practiced this type of drone control in the Kursk region.

Earlier it was reported that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, together with a Ukrainian manufacturer, has begun testing a new control center for units equipped with UAVs. This control center is a new project of the Ministry's Defense Innovation Department.

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