This Ukrainian drone is safe from electronic warfare thanks to fibre-optic cables
Ukraine has started using a drone that can evade enemy jammers, according to the Swedish public broadcaster, SVT.
Standard remote-controlled drones are vulnerable to electronic warfare as their radio signals can get jammed by interfering transmitters.
But a 'wire' drone, which comes with a spool of 10 km-long fibre optic cable that unravels during flight, is being used for strikes.
'The main problem in this direction is electronic warfare. And as far as I know, Russians are the most successful in electronic warfare,' a drone technician named Umer told SVT in an interview.
This drone can provide a secure connection between the operator and the drone, but its known drawback is its limited range.
Russia first started using such wire-controlled drones to avoid Ukraine's electronic warfare, partnering with Chinese factories, according to Ukrainska Pravda, an online Ukrainian media.
Ukrainian companies are reportedly developing their own models and components to fill the market gap within months, according to the local media.
'Very efficient'
Umer says the drone is 'very efficient' and safe from electronic warfare unless it's physically destroyed by cutting the cable or shooting the drone down.
'As you see, the technology is super straight, super simple,' he said.
The wire drone can be sent to a target a little over a mile (1.6 km) away from its base, but it can only be used once.
Software engineer Umer works in Sumy Oblast, close to the Ukraine-Russia border, testing different types of drones and modifying them to make them even more effective.
Umer's family are Tartars who fled Crimea twice – first in 1783 and again in 2014 when Putin occupied Crimea.
'I have my own purpose to be here … because my people suffered a lot from Russians from 1783. Because we were deported. My grandmother, all of my relatives, of course, but we survived. And finally, we came back to Crimea in 1992,' he said.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, drones have transformed from experimental tools to critical instruments of modern warfare.
Both sides are constantly trying to get the upper hand with better protection or more effective strike power.
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