Ukraine counters Russian jammers with fibre optic drone technology
Russian electronic warfare systems pose significant challenges for Ukrainians, who are employing drones en masse to make up for a lack of modern weaponry. One simple yet challenging solution to implement is communication with the drone via fibre optic cable. We explain how it works and the benefits it brings.
In recent months, the Ukrainians have been very successful in using FPV drones and "Baba Yaga" drones to attack Russians. However, this wasn't always the case. For instance, during the unsuccessful summer counteroffensive in 2023 and parts of the battle for Avdiivka, Ukrainian improvised drones were grounded.
Given this context, the current effectiveness won't last forever, as the Russians may once again recalibrate their jammers to the frequencies used by Ukrainians. These frequencies mostly rely on commercial solutions from China and are incomparable to sophisticated military systems.
In such a scenario, the only solutions would be drones using AI algorithms during the final attack phase or systems communicating with the control station via a cable.
The first concept, involving the mass production of drones based on commercial components, is still futuristic, while the second requires the miniaturization of technologies used for decades in anti-tank guided missiles. This is the direction taken by the German company Highcat, which designed its HCX drone, currently being tested in Ukraine.
"Cable-based" drone - benefits despite limited range
In the case of the HCX drone, communication with the base station occurs through a deployable fibre optic cable that adds no more than 0.5 pounds of weight and doesn't cause significant drag. The drone is also expected to operate without issues even when flying over trees. According to the manufacturer, the HCX has a range of 9 miles, which is impressive.
Using a fibre optic cable ensures that the drone is completely passive and doesn't emit radio signals, as all transmission occurs via the fibre optic cable. Because of this, it is impossible to jam or intercept the video transmission. One could say that the HCX drone is virtually undetectable.
Due to the widespread use of drones in Ukraine, many soldiers are equipped with individual drone detectors that have a range of 1-2 km. These work based on the radio signals emitted by drones, which are simply absent in a "cable-based" solution. For this reason, mass-produced wired drones could be a significant convenience for Ukrainian drone operators.
