this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
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At a secret workshop in Ukraine’s north-east, where about 20 people assemble hundreds of FPV (first person view) drones, there is a new design. Under the frame of the familiar quadcopter is a cylinder, the size of a forearm. Coiled up inside is fibre optic cable, 10km (6 miles) or even 20km long, to create a wired kamikaze drone.

Capt Yuriy Fedorenko, the commander of a specialist drone unit, the Achilles regiment, says fibre optic drones were an experimental response to battlefield jamming and rapidly took off late last year. With no radio connection, they cannot be jammed, are difficult to detect and able to fly in ways conventional FPV drones cannot.

“If pilots are experienced, they can fly these drones very low and between the trees in a forest or tree line. If you are flying with a regular drone, the trees block the signal unless you have a re-transmitter close,” he observes. Where tree lined supply roads were thought safer, fibre optic drones have been able to get through.

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[–] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Huh, I remember one of the few draw backs of fiber optic cables being that you had to be very careful with them, because bending them could easily cause them to crack and no longer work. I'm guessing that must no longer be an issue!

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[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago (5 children)

"Secret workshop"? Why are they talking openly to the press then?

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[–] febra@lemmy.world -5 points 1 day ago (8 children)

Knowing how fragile fibre cable is especially when bent at weird angles (which is prone to happen in flight), this doesn't sound like the most genius idea. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[–] 3laws@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Its not brand new stuff. It works, no need to wait and see at all.

[–] CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee 4 points 1 day ago

If it was that bad, they wouldn't be using it. Consider that the same is true for regular munitions. They're meant to be disposable, so if they have a few duds, it's probably not the end of the world.

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