this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
458 points (98.3% liked)

World News

46224 readers
2753 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

At a secret workshop in Ukraine’s north-east, where about 20 people assemble hundreds of FPV (first person view) drones, there is a new design. Under the frame of the familiar quadcopter is a cylinder, the size of a forearm. Coiled up inside is fibre optic cable, 10km (6 miles) or even 20km long, to create a wired kamikaze drone.

Capt Yuriy Fedorenko, the commander of a specialist drone unit, the Achilles regiment, says fibre optic drones were an experimental response to battlefield jamming and rapidly took off late last year. With no radio connection, they cannot be jammed, are difficult to detect and able to fly in ways conventional FPV drones cannot.

“If pilots are experienced, they can fly these drones very low and between the trees in a forest or tree line. If you are flying with a regular drone, the trees block the signal unless you have a re-transmitter close,” he observes. Where tree lined supply roads were thought safer, fibre optic drones have been able to get through.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Tiger_Man_@lemmy.blahaj.zone 69 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Another proof that wired connections are superior

[–] theblips@lemm.ee 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Rhythm and fighting game players have known this for decades now

[–] KuroiKaze@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

Yes we fucking do

[–] weew@lemmy.ca 6 points 6 days ago

I N P U T L A G

[–] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 4 points 6 days ago

Damn straight.

[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 19 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

Those news are already not so new any more. We've had reports of those two months ago.

Since fiber optic wire guided missiles exist it's not that much of a leap to think it should work with drones too, so long as the weight works out.

Fiber is really really thin. 9 micrometer core diameter and 125 micrometer cladding diameter (incl core) and 250 micrometer coating diameter (incl core, cladding). The 10 km spools we use in our lab for network equipment testing are boxes of only like 20x20x10cm, and those aren't optimized to be extra small with bend insensitive fiber. I can totally believe the 1.2-1.4 kg for 10 km in the article.

Edit: leak -> leap

[–] nednobbins@lemm.ee 5 points 6 days ago

Wire guided missiles have been in use since WWII.

Markus Reisner has a pretty good explanation of how they're deployed in one of his videos.

They have much shorter range so they basically set them up as ambushes. The wired drone gets hidden somewhere at a choke point. An other operator flies a recon drone at long range. When they report that a good target has come into range the wired drone takes off and hits the target.

[–] lorty@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 days ago

The only news here are the ukrainians using them. Russia has had them for years by this point.

[–] SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 13 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Reminds me of those old torpedos where the propeller was powered by pulling a cable.

https://youtu.be/qvtZIdSI1Yk

[–] weew@lemmy.ca 11 points 6 days ago (2 children)

There were some actual torpedoes that used miles-long wire to control

[–] childOfMagenta@lemm.ee 2 points 6 days ago

I think they still do.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] theblips@lemm.ee 6 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Don't these reveal the location of the operator, though?

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 11 points 6 days ago (2 children)

How? If you think they're going to successfully follow a filament thinner than human hair over 6 miles I'd love to know

[–] Crikeste@lemm.ee 5 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Ok, but then how strong can such a filament be? Seems like anything and everything could potentially severe the connection

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago

there's literally 70 years of fly by wire minitions I'm sure there's a rich back and forth series of countermeasures and baffles

[–] Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago

Since the filament is not under tension as it is unwinding I think unless someone intentionally cuts it or it jams somehow it should not jus break.

[–] theblips@lemm.ee 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I mean after the attack the strands left could be used to trace operation spots. But I guess you're right, I didn't realise they were that thin

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

You may be right, but not quickly and either end can cut and run of they find the line intercepted. These usually aren't launched from a stationary base

[–] PoppyChulo@lemmy.wtf 4 points 6 days ago

Drop off this drone with a different drone. Then fly it out wherever the other drones couldn't get to.

load more comments
view more: next ›