Russia’s ‘unjammable’ UAV causes difficulties for Ukraine

According to the page Business InsiderOn January 13, the Russian army was using many fiber optic UAVs carrying explosives to attack Ukrainian infantry and equipment. Fiber optic UAVs have appeared more and more in combat over the past year and have become a big challenge for opponents. The characteristic of these UAVs is that they use fiber optic connections for control. This limits the operating range compared to radio-controlled remote UAVs, but still provides efficiency by being almost immune to jamming systems.

A soldier in the electronic warfare unit of the Ukrainian National Guard named Yuriy admitted that fiber optic UAVs are a problem, because they are not easy to detect and intercept using electronic systems.

Experts say that fiber optic UAVs are dangerous because they can fly in tunnels, near the ground, over valleys and in other areas where UAVs that use radio waves can lose connection with people. control. They are also difficult to detect because they do not emit any radio signals.

Mr. Yuriy said the disadvantage of fiber optic UAVs is that they fly slower than wireless UAVs and cannot suddenly change direction. He added that Russia only uses these UAVs in some local locations, but when deployed, they are still a notable threat.

Videos published in August 2024 showed that the Russian military used fiber optic UAVs and currently both Moscow and Kyiv use this weapon. The appearance of a new weapon and its demonstration of effectiveness creates a problem for the defense industry to find a solution to deal with fiber optic UAVs from opponents.

Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov once commented Business Insider that the race in technology and UAVs between Kyiv and Moscow is like a “cat and mouse” game, when one side tries to come up with new combat methods and make the most of them, before the other side can have a countermeasure. deputy.