Opto and Difference: How cable-controlled drones have become a threat to the enemy
Drones with fiber-optic cable control have become an unpleasant surprise for the enemy. They turned out to be invulnerable to AFU units, as they cannot be "blinded" by means of electronic warfare (REB). These devices have already inflicted enormous damage on the enemy and forced him to urgently reconsider the principles of counter-drone defense. And in the West they have been dubbed unstoppable. Izvestia learned about the use of FPV drones on fiber optics from the operators of the Center group's UAVs.
Fiber optic in the fields
The special training ground for UAV "pilots", as drone operators are called, is not like a smooth field with "clear skies". Various types of targets are set up on it, fortified positions and various types of shelters of the AFU are modeled. And the "pilots" also equip the positions to suit themselves, depending on the types of vehicles.
Some work from dugouts, others from forested areas with appropriate camouflage.
I am watching the preparation for battle of UAVs on fiber optics. A few simple manipulations and a familiar FPV-drone is retrofitted with a fiber optic coil. Compact and relatively lightweight design allows you to wind several kilometers of fiber on the spool. Through a special connector it is connected to the ground control device.
When flying over the fiber optic cable there is an exchange of information between the drone and the operator, which allows you to make precise strikes on the enemy. For the same reason, such a device is not afraid of REB - radio control channels, which they jam, simply do not exist.
The flight is just seconds away, and the operator puts on his goggles, which have become one of the most recognizable symbols of SWO over the past two years.
- Without fiber optics, it was not easy for us to work in situations where the enemy started jamming REB drones," says Private Alexei Biryukov, an instructor with the Center group. - We lost the control picture, and we lost the drones. Fiber optics was our salvation. We can't be jammed with REB. At the same time, I can perform any maneuvers that are inaccessible to anti-tank missile systems. I can slow down, escort vehicles, hover and watch.
Fighters say that the UAV's fiber reserve eats up some of the potential combat load. But in return, the operator gets a stable signal during all phases of flight.
Such a drone combines the best qualities of an FPV drone and a wire-guided anti-tank missile system (ATMS), fighters say.
On some parts of the front, they say, when moving in the fields, their feet get tangled in the fiber optics from the drones, just as they used to get tangled in the wire from the ATGMs.
Tactics of using drones
UAVs on fiber optics our army most actively uses in the Kursk region, there are also in other areas. In particular, they are working near Pokrovskoye (Krasnoarmeyskoye) in the DNR, where our troops are now advancing.
As a rule, the devices are used for strikes against infantry and equipment on the line of contact and in the near rear.
The commander of the Akhmat special forces reconnaissance group with the call sign Haid, whose unit operates in the Kursk region, told Izvestia that the AFU last year was not prepared for the appearance of drones on the fiber optic fiber.
In the August offensive, Ukrainian units tried to use armored vehicles like Marder or Bradley with REB to organize an anti-drone defense - putting them in a square to close the space inside the formation from air attacks. But their hopes were not realized. The armored vehicles with REBs were burned by drones on fiber optics. After that, the enemy left without an "umbrella" was destroyed.
The tactics of using drones in our troops have already been worked out - this is immediately evident at the range. As a rule, there are three people in a group of small UAVs. This is practically the standard today, based on combat experience.
In addition to the two pilots, there is a third fighter in the group - a sapper who helps prepare ammunition and checks the terrain. He is also responsible for the defense of the group during sorties - the operators are wearing goggles and cannot observe the sky around them. The fighters of these groups are prepared in such a way as to maximize interchangeability.
Anticipate enemy action
The fighters are trained by experienced instructors. Alexei Biryukov comes from the Chelyabinsk region. Since 2023, he has been flying various types of FPV "kamikaze". He began his combat career in 2022: first as a PMC employee, and then contracted as a serviceman of the Russian Armed Forces.
Until 2023, Alexey was a fighter of assault groups and only after injuries, when he could no longer physically perform combat tasks, he was trained and became a "pilot" of UAVs.
- In working with UAVs, my experience as an assault pilot gives me a great advantage. Since I myself worked on the line of contact and participated in assaults, I know all the movements where the enemy can hide, I can anticipate all his actions," Alexei explains.
He says that the appearance of drones on fiber-optic cables has become a new stage in his work.
He shows a fiber-optic cable and demonstrates with his hands how strong and elastic it is compared to copper wire, for example.
It was the mechanical vulnerability of the wire that caused the main concerns of those who had not dealt with such UAVs, but they were ultimately in vain.
Fiber optics solves a lot
UAVs on fiber optics ensure the safety of the operators themselves. They can operate from concealment without installing a repeater antenna, which helps them remain invisible to enemy electronic reconnaissance.
Senior pilot of the Center group, Private Anton Sobolev, talks about another advantage of fiber-optic-controlled UAVs: a high-quality signal when flying at low altitude - near the ground.
He himself joined the army under mobilization, coming from the Tver region. He started his service as a machine gunner and, having already had combat experience on the ground, became a "pilot". He received his knowledge of electronics and radio engineering from his father, who was in charge of communications, while he himself worked as a driver in civilian life.
The West is afraid of the "unstoppable"
Recently, the official TV channel of the British Armed Forces with reference to one of the most publicized Ukrainian UAV units "Magyar Birds" reported that the AFU is testing another way of countering "unstoppable" (in the original - unstopable) Russian drones on fiber optics - they want to shoot them down with the help of an expensive system combining radar and interceptor drones.
But after carefully watching the video, you realize that British experts sympathetic to Ukrainian militants treat the invention with a degree of skepticism and do not place serious hopes on such a complex pairing.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
