The Ukrainians recently captured a Russian drone which communicates via a fiber-optic link, making it jam-proof. This looks like a big headache and not just for Ukraine.
Wouldn’t it be relatively easy to clear an area of these just by passing something through the air closer to the ground, where it will snap any fibre optic cables connecting ground troops with drones?
Also, won’t these cables point directly back to the ground troops?
Sure, RF detectors won’t see these, and a single strand is an awfully small needle in a 2D haystack, but these aren’t like guided missiles where they move too fast to counter.
How so? If the drone is trailing 10km of fiber, it is likely not immediately above the position where you’d see it… it’ll be a km up and traveling in the direction of its target, which the fiber will be pointing towards. And you’ll know that the operator is less than 9 km away in the other direction.
if you can see the wire that is likely laying in trees and twisting and turning. across the scale of most warfare this is far from a major opsec concern.
That’s my point. The fiber spools out of the drone and curves back towards the operator on the ground at an angle that depends on the weight of the fiber and the tension applied by the drone. Given a lightweight fiber and a low tension to avoid breaking it, then if the drone was 1km directly overhead then the closest point where the fiber reaches ground level would be several hundred meters away.
By the time the fiber gets close enough to reach, the drone is already there.
Also, won’t these cables point directly back to the ground troops?
Not necessarily. The drone can be deployed on a different vector and change course toward the target so that its fiber line would point elsewhere. The operator can also pull the fiber back in after the drone is destroyed or the line is cut.
Drones are not very fast, and they can be noisy.
Wouldn’t it be relatively easy to clear an area of these just by passing something through the air closer to the ground, where it will snap any fibre optic cables connecting ground troops with drones?
Also, won’t these cables point directly back to the ground troops?
Sure, RF detectors won’t see these, and a single strand is an awfully small needle in a 2D haystack, but these aren’t like guided missiles where they move too fast to counter.
If you’re close enough to see and/or reach the fiber, then the suicide drone it’s attached to is already close enough to bomb you.
How so? If the drone is trailing 10km of fiber, it is likely not immediately above the position where you’d see it… it’ll be a km up and traveling in the direction of its target, which the fiber will be pointing towards. And you’ll know that the operator is less than 9 km away in the other direction.
if you can see the wire that is likely laying in trees and twisting and turning. across the scale of most warfare this is far from a major opsec concern.
That’s my point. The fiber spools out of the drone and curves back towards the operator on the ground at an angle that depends on the weight of the fiber and the tension applied by the drone. Given a lightweight fiber and a low tension to avoid breaking it, then if the drone was 1km directly overhead then the closest point where the fiber reaches ground level would be several hundred meters away.
By the time the fiber gets close enough to reach, the drone is already there.
Not necessarily. The drone can be deployed on a different vector and change course toward the target so that its fiber line would point elsewhere. The operator can also pull the fiber back in after the drone is destroyed or the line is cut.