A border guard from the Pomsta Brigade (Ukraine), nicknamed Phoenix, said that the improved unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used by Russia in recent intensified attacks have “brought new challenges on the battlefield” for the Ukrainian army.
Unlike conventional UAVs, which require a radio signal to operate, these UAVs are directly connected to their operators via a fiber optic cable as thin as fishing line, up to 15 km long. This makes them less susceptible to electronic interference, making them difficult to disable.
The improved UAVs have reportedly been around since the middle of last year. Kiev soldiers say they are a key part of Moscow’s military strategy as Russia attempts to gain more ground in eastern Ukraine.
In addition to reconnaissance missions, the Russian military also deploys fiber-optic UAVs as suicide weapons, carrying small explosives. “This is an extremely dangerous weapon,” said an officer of Ukraine’s 148th Artillery Brigade, nicknamed Varan.
Kostyantyn, commander of a battalion of Ukraine's Bureviy Brigade, said that fiber-optic UAVs are capable of flying deeper into Ukrainian defenses and attacking more accurately than conventional UAVs, but still asserted that the UAVs only "complicate the situation a little bit."
Meanwhile, in a television program broadcast late last year, the head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate noted that the new Russian UAV is "a big problem."
On January 8, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) warned that Russia is deploying more and more fiber-optic UAVs in the current offensive campaign and has carried out a series of new attacks along the front line.
However, this type of UAV can have difficulty moving in narrow or obstructed terrain. A Ukrainian border guard nicknamed Medoid said he saw some of them getting stuck in tree branches. In addition, they are also limited in their range of operation due to the length of the cable they depend on.
