Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Russia is having increasing problems using drones in the Kherson area, due to improved Ukrainian electronic warfare and drone strikes against Russian forces. Ukraine is reported to have devised an ingenious approach to deploy fibre-optic drones across the Dnipro river. ⬇️

2/ Since Russian forces retreated across the Dnipro in November 2022, control of the river's banks and its many islands has been contested by both sides.

3/ Russian forces have, notoriously, used drones to mount what has been called a 'human safari' in the city of Kherson. The Russian warblogger 'UAV developer' says that Russia is facing increasing difficulty in doing this due to Ukraine's countermeasures:

4/ "Over time, the Ukrainians have secured the area so well that off-the-shelf UAVs can’t fly there at all; at the same time, they’ve scattered beacons throughout the area and have their own local navigation system.

5/ "They have Starlink. They have Silvus [mesh radios] and [L3Harris Falcon radios]. Combined with the coordinated work of FPV [drone] reconnaissance and electronic warfare teams, this allows them to deploy radio-controlled drones deep into our rear and operate them effectively.

6/ "We, on the other hand, generally can’t fly as far as Kherson. The problem with fibre-optic drones on the river is that the current breaks the fibre. Therefore, operating with fibre across the river is difficult for both sides."

7/ The Ukrainians have reportedly found a couple of ingenious solutions. One is to use uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) to ferry supplies and drones to Ukrainian troops on the river islands; this video shows one USV being destroyed by a Russian FPV drone.

8/ The other is to transport fibre-optic drones across the river, carried on Starlink-equipped heavy drones, which are then used as relay points for the fibre-optic drones without risking the cable dropping into the river:

9/ "Combined with Starlink, this creates dangerous loitering drones: fibre-optic drones can stay active for days, unlike radio-controlled ones, where the battery drains on the video transmitter within hours." /end

Sources:
🔹 t.me/UAVDEV/10708
🔹 t.me/The_Wrong_Side…