Ukrainians turn to fiber optic cables to outsmart Russian jammers

Russian electronic warfare systems pose a significant challenge for Ukrainians, who rely heavily on drones to make up for the lack of modern weaponry. One simple yet complex solution is communicating with drones via fiber optics. We explain how it works and its benefits.

In recent months, Ukrainians have successfully used FPV drones and "Baba Yaga" drones to attack Russian forces, but this hasn't always been the case. For instance, during the unsuccessful summer counteroffensive in 2023 and parts of the battle over Avdiivka, Ukrainian improvised drones were grounded.

Thus, the current level of effectiveness may not last forever. Russians can adapt their jammers to the frequencies used by Ukrainians. These drones mostly rely on commercial solutions from China, which aren't comparable to a few strictly military systems.

In such scenarios, the solution could be drones that utilize artificial intelligence algorithms in the final attack phase or drones that communicate with their control stations via a cable.

The first concept, involving mass-produced drones based on commercial components, remains a thing of the future. The second approach, practically a miniaturization of a solution used for decades in anti-tank guided missiles, is the direction taken by the German company Highcat, which is designing its HCX drone, which is currently being tested in Ukraine.

For the HCX drone, communication with the base station happens via a deployable fiber optic cable, which adds no more than 0.6 pounds of weight and doesn't cause significant drag. The drone is also designed to operate seamlessly even when flying over trees. According to the manufacturer, the HCX's range is 9 miles, an impressive figure.

Fiber optics allows the drone to be completely passive, as it doesn't emit radio signals; all transmission occurs through the fiber optic cable. This makes it impossible to jam or intercept the video transmission, rendering the HCX drone undetectable.

With the widespread use of drones in Ukraine, many soldiers are equipped with personal drone detectors with a range of 0.6-1.2 miles. These detectors function based on radio signals emitted by drones, which are absent in the case of a cable solution. For this reason, mass-produced tethered drones could significantly alleviate the challenges faced by Ukrainian drone operators.