Defence & security, explained.
Ukraine soldiers test a fibre optic FPV drone with RPG munition on 18 June 2025 near Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Region, Ukraine (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)
Unjammable fibre-connected weapons are spreading from Ukrainian battlefields as drones continue to reshape warfare.
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Fibre-optic drones reshape Ukraine's technological warFibre-optic drones reshape Ukraine's technological war
Fibre-optic drones have taken a more central role on the battlefields in Ukraine. Frontline soldiers describe the conflict as a war of drones and Ukraine has leveraged this technological edge masterfully, holding Russia at bay for several years. It has built a “drone wall”, a defensive network of drones in which Russia continues to hurl wave after wave of soldiers, suffering heavy losses in relentless meatgrinder assaults.
But with radio-controlled drones susceptible to electronic disruption, a new fleet of deadly weapons connected by gossamer threads back to their operator emerged, making them both unjammable and undetectable to conventional electronic warfare systems.
By mid-2024, Russia began deploying fibre-optic drones on the battlefield, beginning the process of eroding Kyiv’s technological edge. They played a key role in Russia’s successes in the Kursk offensive. The same tactics are now being replicated across the front: launching rapid motorcycle-borne assaults, pressuring Ukrainian flanks, attempting to encircle defenders, and using fibre-optic drones to strike at Ukrainian logistics and vehicles.
Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has acknowledged that Russia currently holds the advantage in the fibre-optic drone race “in terms of both quantity and range of application.” The close relationship Russia shares with China certainly helps, given China is the world’s leader of fibre optics. As a result, Kyiv has been scrambling to catch up to Russia's fibre-optic advantage.
The reach of fibre-optic drone warfare is also expanding beyond Ukraine, reportedly to Mali and Myanmar.
So far, there are no scalable countermeasures against these fibre-optic drones. Shotguns are an option, according to those with experience, or even scissors or a knife if one flies by and the cable can be spotted. There are options for high-tech solutions, including AI-powered automated turrets equipped with radar and camera sensors, which can shoot without human intervention, but they are expensive and still require people to maintain or supply ammunition and fuel. To reduce risk of losing connection to a drone, most systems now combine fibre with a radio backup to ensure reliability.
Much of the drone material Kyiv deploys is also sourced from China – the same suppliers often provide components to both Ukraine and Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that China has begun restricting exports of the quadcopter style Mavic drones to the West. Ukraine is making an effort to diversify suppliers, with India producing fibre lines, for example.
Ukrainian drone pilots prefer the option of First-Person View vehicles for reconnaissance as opposed to larger fixed-wing drones. As one drone operator in the Unmanned Systems Battalion of Ukraine’s 110th Separate Mechanised Brigade told me, fixed-wing systems “only see from 300 metres up, at best”, and usually this is closer to 500–600 metres. “It’s hard to detect anything from that high,” the soldier said. “A fibre-optic drone can film from half a meter above the ground – or 3, or 10, or 100. It's much easier to find something that way.”
Drones typically have a range of 10 to 20 kilometres, though some other units have reached up to 32 kilometres. “But to do that, you need to fly low and in a straight line to prevent the cable from sagging or snagging on obstacles.” And in winter, the cables can glint with frost, making them more visible.
A drone pilot from the Unmanned Systems Battalion of Ukraine’s 110th Separate Mechanised Brigade operates an FPV drone in Donetsk Oblast (David Kirichenko)
In response to battlefield demands, Ukrainian companies such as 3DTech have begun producing next-generation fibre drones with ranges up to 30 kilometres, optimised for low-altitude ambush strikes.
The high-speed motorcycle assaults by Russia have seen fibre-optic drones deployed with deadly effect. Standard FPVs first clear entry points before a fibre-optic drone flies directly into dugouts, forcing immediate evacuation. Sometimes, up to 10 motorcycles will follow behind, and even if only five make it through, the wave can quickly turn to chaos. The elite Russian drone unit Rubicon has made very effective use of this technology. Specialising in long-range fibre-optic FPVs, Rubicon has launched deep strikes into Ukrainian rear positions, crippling logistics and command nodes. Their presence on the Kostiantynivka front has forced Ukrainian brigades to rethink supply routes and drone deployment tactics.
As a result of these drone attacks, Ukraine is facing an acute shortage of trucks, pickups, and armoured transport vehicles, which are increasingly being destroyed. Across the front, it's now common to see Mad Max–style vehicles – improvised trucks reinforced with metal cages to protect against drones.
The reach of fibre-optic drone warfare is also expanding beyond Ukraine. Reportedly for the first time in Mali, the use of fibre-optic FPV drones was observed by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), which is fighting against both the Malian government and the Russian African Corps. In Myanmar, rebels from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) reportedly used a fibre-optic FPV drone to down a Mi-17 helicopter.
Sometimes, the most practical solutions such as the use of fibre-optics prove to be the most effective. The technological race on Ukraine’s battlefields is advancing rapidly, and militaries around the world are paying close attention.
About the author
David Kirichenko
David Kirichenko is an Associate Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society.
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