Don't these reveal the location of the operator, though?
this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
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How? If you think they're going to successfully follow a filament thinner than human hair over 6 miles I'd love to know
Ok, but then how strong can such a filament be? Seems like anything and everything could potentially severe the connection
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.
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
Drop off this drone with a different drone. Then fly it out wherever the other drones couldn't get to.
Another proof that wired connections are superior
Rhythm and fighting game players have known this for decades now
Damn straight.
I N P U T L A G
Reminds me of those old torpedos where the propeller was powered by pulling a cable.
There were some actual torpedoes that used miles-long wire to control
I think they still do.
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
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.
It's a flying nightmare, until somebody figures out how to cut the cable in flight.
The way they're used there isn't much time for that. With regular drones they hunt around for something to kill and then dive in. The wired drones stay hidden until the target comes into range and then they just come out for the strike. The defenders only have a few seconds to react.
Got to catch the thing first. I'm sure they are using fancier shit but I have an Avata2 that can hit about 50mph and is wildly maneuverable. I would be interested to the the specs on one of those. You would also need a pilot skilled enough to fly it. I think we'll start some type of micro-missile drone killer weapons in the near future.
What I'm imagining is more like a flying knife.
flying knife missiles
this sounds so stupid but it might work
They do work. They've been using them to blow up tanks.
Sure. But it just might still work.
At first I imagined the drone dragging its cable and that seemed terrible, but then I realized they’re carrying a spool and they let cable out as they go. That’s actually brilliant and absolutely could work. 12 miles of cable. Only thing is it adds weight so you can’t deliver as much explosive payload.
Honestly, it's old tech. There were guide-by-wire missiles for a long time before this.
I build some (they aren't in Ukrainian hands yet, but will be - if they want them, because they're advancing super fast and could be many steps ahead). There is no "might", they work.
10 kilometers of fiber weighs 1.5 kg, less if you buy fancier kinds of fiber. A drone with 10-inch props lifts this without problems. You can bend the fiber around a pencil and only experience degraded signal. Only a 90-degree bend will make it snap. In the war zone, landscapes after some battles already resemble "attack of the spiders" movies.
In peace time, the challenge is finding a farmer who allows using their field to test this. Promising to reel everything in and pay for damaged crops goes a long way, though. But sea is an even better idea - easier to reel it back.
P.S.
I am quite grateful to an Ukrainian radio amateur, Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov. He published info about the early Russian models that were found crashed, and made a big deal about it, as one should. People listened to him and took him seriously, and started developing them ASAP.
bend the fiber around a pencil and only experience degraded signal
Interesting. Are you using G.657.A2 then?
Stupid like a TOW missle.
Like torpedos used to do.
Next evolution, carrier drones. Larger fiber drones that carry smaller radio drones and can also act as a repeater when needed.
Already exist.
That was actually where my mind went first too. The big issue with current drones is signal strength and jammers. But if you’re able to just plop a wired signal repeater anywhere you can get a drone, then that solves a lot of the issues with signal strength. The article even mentions that these fiber drones are being used for forested deployments, where trees would normally block signals. But what if you just use the fiber drone as a repeater? Now you can send out your wireless drones without any of the issues of carrying a wire.
"Carrier has arrived."
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