(Pt 1)
While the most widely known advantage of fiber optic drones is that they are immune to radio frequency (RF) detection and jamming, there are several other very important advantages as well that have hugely contributed to their use and impact growing extremely rapidly for and against Ukraine.
In some areas of the front, soldiers have told DTU that fiber drones make up 70% or more of the enemy’s FPV drone attacks and cause more than half of overall casualties. The tools for last-second use of small arms against them are improving, but are still far from reliable. There are currently no reliable defenses in widespread use against fiber drones beyond hiding.
Why are fiber drones so effective, beyond their immunity to RF detection and jamming?
Let’s discuss:
While the most widely known advantage of fiber optic drones is that they are immune to radio frequency (RF) detection and jamming, there are several other very important advantages as well that have hugely contributed to their use and impact growing extremely rapidly for and against Ukraine.
In some areas of the front, soldiers have told DTU that fiber drones make up 70% or more of the enemy’s FPV drone attacks and cause more than half of overall casualties. The tools for last-second use of small arms against them are improving, but are still far from reliable. There are currently no reliable defenses in widespread use against fiber drones beyond hiding.
Why are fiber drones so effective, beyond their immunity to RF detection and jamming?
Let’s discuss:
(Part 2)
1. Line of Sight: Non-fiber radio-controlled drones generally require an unimpeded line of sight from the transmitter to the drone. This means that any obstructions such as trees, hills, and buildings between the piloting team and the target are problematic.
One way to get around this can be by using drones in the sky with “retranslators” on them, which are receivers and transmitters that essentially relay the signal from the pilot and onward to the farthest drone via the much more elevated and better positioned location of the retranslator drone in between. But this means another flying team is required to be trained, equipped, and available, and requires additional coordination between the teams. The scale of Ukraine’s front line and enemy means resources are spread thin, and so fiber drones are a more efficient solution to this problem.
Even with a retranslator relay, the signal strength may be insufficient to carry inside buildings or underground. But with fiber, a good pilot can go deep inside a structure until it finds its target without any signal degradation.
Ground drones (UGVs) as well as sea drones (USVs) can also benefit greatly from this fact, as they suffer more than aerial drones from radio line-of-sight issues.
2. Radar Evasion: Not only are fiber drones invisible to RF detection, but they are essentially invisible to radar when they are flying below the tree line, which is often the case. Radar at resolutions high enough to see small drones won’t see fiber drones through trees, since their high frequency waves don’t pass well through branches and leaves.
(UGV Photo credit to Brave1)
1. Line of Sight: Non-fiber radio-controlled drones generally require an unimpeded line of sight from the transmitter to the drone. This means that any obstructions such as trees, hills, and buildings between the piloting team and the target are problematic.
One way to get around this can be by using drones in the sky with “retranslators” on them, which are receivers and transmitters that essentially relay the signal from the pilot and onward to the farthest drone via the much more elevated and better positioned location of the retranslator drone in between. But this means another flying team is required to be trained, equipped, and available, and requires additional coordination between the teams. The scale of Ukraine’s front line and enemy means resources are spread thin, and so fiber drones are a more efficient solution to this problem.
Even with a retranslator relay, the signal strength may be insufficient to carry inside buildings or underground. But with fiber, a good pilot can go deep inside a structure until it finds its target without any signal degradation.
Ground drones (UGVs) as well as sea drones (USVs) can also benefit greatly from this fact, as they suffer more than aerial drones from radio line-of-sight issues.
2. Radar Evasion: Not only are fiber drones invisible to RF detection, but they are essentially invisible to radar when they are flying below the tree line, which is often the case. Radar at resolutions high enough to see small drones won’t see fiber drones through trees, since their high frequency waves don’t pass well through branches and leaves.
(UGV Photo credit to Brave1)
(Part 3)
3. Ground Ambush: Both sides now fly fiber drones to locations along roads where they expect enemy movement, land facing the direction of interest, and turn all systems except the camera onto low power standby. Fiber data transmission requires relatively low power compared to RF, and so they can sit and wait hours longer than RF ones, with some reports as long as 24 hours standby capability. The drone team monitors the video for passing enemy, and is able to ambush attack, giving the targets very little time to react.
📷
This is especially problematic for logistics and for forward team infiltration and exfiltration. One hero defender who was severely injured in a fiber drone ambush told us that his team had become quite adept at shooting RF-controlled drones approaching them during these trips, since the drones approached from enough distance and altitude to give them enough advance notice to aim and fire off several rounds each. But in the fiber ambush, he estimated there were as few as three seconds total from the drone starting to move until its impact.
4. High Bandwidth: The most utilized benefit at the moment of the massively increased bandwidth is the ability to send very high resolution video tens of kilometers without any loss of quality. This means the flight team can much more easily identify targets and also aids in navigation. Likely soon it will also be used to offload high volume data processing back to the flying team, reducing the need to put relatively expensive “edge” processing units on drones that will not be re-used.
5. Team Stealth: Teams that fly radio drones have to set up transmitters relatively close to their actual position, in order to reliably receive the data back to them. This means they are literally broadcasting their transmitter’s position, which is easily geolocated. Even if they are using a flying retranslator, their ground transmitter can be located by an aerial drone, and so the enemy knows the general area to be watching. But fiber drone operators do not broadcast this RF, and attempting to trace the source of fiber is much easier said than done with very fine fiber in a battlefield strewn with dozens of fiber strands while enemy surveillance and strike drones are on the hunt.
3. Ground Ambush: Both sides now fly fiber drones to locations along roads where they expect enemy movement, land facing the direction of interest, and turn all systems except the camera onto low power standby. Fiber data transmission requires relatively low power compared to RF, and so they can sit and wait hours longer than RF ones, with some reports as long as 24 hours standby capability. The drone team monitors the video for passing enemy, and is able to ambush attack, giving the targets very little time to react.
📷
This is especially problematic for logistics and for forward team infiltration and exfiltration. One hero defender who was severely injured in a fiber drone ambush told us that his team had become quite adept at shooting RF-controlled drones approaching them during these trips, since the drones approached from enough distance and altitude to give them enough advance notice to aim and fire off several rounds each. But in the fiber ambush, he estimated there were as few as three seconds total from the drone starting to move until its impact.
4. High Bandwidth: The most utilized benefit at the moment of the massively increased bandwidth is the ability to send very high resolution video tens of kilometers without any loss of quality. This means the flight team can much more easily identify targets and also aids in navigation. Likely soon it will also be used to offload high volume data processing back to the flying team, reducing the need to put relatively expensive “edge” processing units on drones that will not be re-used.
5. Team Stealth: Teams that fly radio drones have to set up transmitters relatively close to their actual position, in order to reliably receive the data back to them. This means they are literally broadcasting their transmitter’s position, which is easily geolocated. Even if they are using a flying retranslator, their ground transmitter can be located by an aerial drone, and so the enemy knows the general area to be watching. But fiber drone operators do not broadcast this RF, and attempting to trace the source of fiber is much easier said than done with very fine fiber in a battlefield strewn with dozens of fiber strands while enemy surveillance and strike drones are on the hunt.
(Part 4)
Defense Tech for Ukraine (DTU) is proud to have supported Ukraine’s adoption of this critical technology since the very beginning of its introduction in Ukraine, and our members have been successfully helping disseminate the technical knowledge and tactical skills needed to best utilize this game-changing defense tech.
DTU supported the final prototype development and set up the first known successful combat mission of a Ukraine-made fiber drone, in collaboration with our members, American Made Freedom, Heron Precision, “Boston” with the International Legion 3rd Battalion, and many others, and we’re hard at work on many more projects in support of Ukraine’s fight for freedom.
We encourage any Ukrainian or NATO soldiers to contact the organization through our website for additional restricted information on sourcing and operating fiber optic drones.
About the Author
📷
Jonathan Lippert is president of Defense Tech for Ukraine (DTU) and a co-director at Ukraine Aid Ops. He oversees the anti-drone/Counter-UAS portion of DTU and has been supporting Ukrainian fiber optic drone capability since the first half of 2024.
About DTU
DTU has grown now to over 400 engineers, developers, experienced operators, project managers, donors and more working to speed the development and spread of critical technological tools to Ukraine’s defenders. If you’d like to help in any way, whether by volunteering your skills or by donating financially, we’d love to hear from you, just click here: defensetechforukraine.org
Defense Tech for Ukraine (DTU) is proud to have supported Ukraine’s adoption of this critical technology since the very beginning of its introduction in Ukraine, and our members have been successfully helping disseminate the technical knowledge and tactical skills needed to best utilize this game-changing defense tech.
DTU supported the final prototype development and set up the first known successful combat mission of a Ukraine-made fiber drone, in collaboration with our members, American Made Freedom, Heron Precision, “Boston” with the International Legion 3rd Battalion, and many others, and we’re hard at work on many more projects in support of Ukraine’s fight for freedom.
We encourage any Ukrainian or NATO soldiers to contact the organization through our website for additional restricted information on sourcing and operating fiber optic drones.
About the Author
📷
Jonathan Lippert is president of Defense Tech for Ukraine (DTU) and a co-director at Ukraine Aid Ops. He oversees the anti-drone/Counter-UAS portion of DTU and has been supporting Ukrainian fiber optic drone capability since the first half of 2024.
About DTU
DTU has grown now to over 400 engineers, developers, experienced operators, project managers, donors and more working to speed the development and spread of critical technological tools to Ukraine’s defenders. If you’d like to help in any way, whether by volunteering your skills or by donating financially, we’d love to hear from you, just click here: defensetechforukraine.org
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