By Olha Hembik | 2025-02-05

WARSAW -- Ukrainian drones controlled by fiber optics are helping to thwart Russian electronic warfare and reconnaissance equipment, observers say.

In the last four months of 2024, Ukrainian drones destroyed 655 Russian armored infantry fighting vehicles, 446 tanks, 396 pieces of artillery, and various quantities of other equipment, according to UA War Infographics.

The drones destroy about 65% of the equipment Russia sends into the war, it added.

Changing the course of war

The operator of a first-person view (FPV) drone uses a remote control to guide the drone and monitors its route in real time through special goggles, military analysts explain.

FPV kamikaze drones are precision-guided weapons that can carry ammunition of various types and weights, fly into trenches and windows, and drop through the hatches of enemy vehicles, the Ukrainian online publication Militarnyi said in 2023.

They are maneuverable, destroy armored vehicles and wipe out personnel. The drones can strike targets up to 10 or more kilometers away and reach speeds of 100km per hour or more.

"Drones have truly changed the face of the war. They're a technological revolution in warcraft, like how tanks changed World War I," said Mykola, a Ukrainian drone operator with the call sign "May" who is stationed in Zaporizhzhia.

"And now in some sections of the front, we are holding back the enemy solely because drone operator teams ... fend off mechanized and infantry assaults," he told Kontur.

"In other words, in places where there's a problem with [i.e., shortage of] infantrymen, artillery and other equipment, there are drone operators who are saving the day in some sections of the front," Mykola said.

Destroying reconnaissance drones

Through the Nebesnyi Rusoriz (Heavenly Rus-Slayer) volunteer initiative spearheaded by activist Serhii Sternenko, in just over three months Ukrainian drones downed more than 400 Russian drones, Defense Express reported November 25.

The downed drones included 211 Zalas, 137 Supercams, 46 Orlans and seven Lancets.

"When we deprive the Russians of aerial reconnaissance, we save lives, protect equipment and disrupt the enemy's battlefield tactics," Sternenko wrote in Ukrainian on X November 25. "Every one of those drones could have aimed a missile, aerial bomb or artillery."

On August 7, Sternenko posted a video on Telegram showing an FPV drone hitting an expensive Russian Mi-28 helicopter.

On October 6, a Ukrainian FPV drone destroyed a Russian Osa antiaircraft missile system.

"The cost of the enemy's automated anti-aircraft missile system is $10 million. The cost of the FPV drone used by the intelligence officers to burn down 'Osa' is several hundred dollars," Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR), which sent the drone, said in an English-language statement.

FPV drones have also proven effective in destroying the newest Russian T-90M Proryv tanks, Forbes reported January 14.

Kamikaze drones

"The majority of enemy drones are destroyed by FPV drones," Oleksandr Pohrebyskyi, a member of the Kyiv city council and and commander of a drone battalion, told Kontur. "In our unit there are separate crews who focus specifically on air targets."

Personnel employ FPV drones in two ways: as expendable kamikaze drones and as reusable drones that drop munitions on the enemy and come back for more missions, Militarnyi reported in 2023.

"Up to 80%–90% of the destruction of the enemy's vehicles and manpower is due to Baba Yaga drones [Ukrainian-made Vampire drones], as the enemy calls them. We have large-payload kamikaze drones, and we work with [payload] drops," said Pavlo, a drone commander whose call sign is "Cupid."

He serves in the CORVUS unit, which is stationed in Bakhmut.

"We've already started dealing with air targets -- Orlan, Zala and Supercam drones. We're doing tests and getting pretty good results," Pavlo told Kontur. "We're using disposable drones to strike their infantry and also vehicles and artillery. All of that is being done with FPV drones."

The main problem with FPV drones is the reliable transmission of images, which the Russians try to jam electronically, he said.

"Even if there's an electronic warfare system on an enemy vehicle and the pilot is operating blind, we try to reach it," Pavlo said. "We're not going to bring an armed drone back. For the most part, we can get it there even if it's flying blind. But if the pilot is inexperienced, the drone is lost."

Utilizing fiber optics

Fiber optics, being invulnerable to electronic jamming, provides valuable security for FPV drones, military analysts explain.

Drones controlled by fiber optics do not lose signals, the way other drones can, if the operator and remote control are deployed beyond the (radio) horizon.

Pilots from the 414th Unmanned Strike Aviation Systems Regiment, the Birds of Magyar, have begun using these kinds of drones, Militarnyi reported December 20.

On December 20, the 414th posted on its Telegram channel a video showing two fiber optic-controlled FPV drones destroying a Russian tank.

"These drones are more expensive to make -- each one costs an average of $1,000–$1,100 because to use a fiber optic coil, you need a drone with a big chassis," Pohrebyskyi said. "And you need a big chassis so you can attach the warhead for the mission at hand. And the optical fiber isn't cheap either."

"This is a war in which drones are playing a key role," he said.

On January 2, the Ukrainian military's Main Directorate of Defense Innovations tested Ukrainian-made fiber optic-controlled FPV drones.

A number of these drones will soon be supplied to Ukrainian troops, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"It’s fair to say that the Ukrainians developed this type of weapon [FPV drones], and that we're the world leaders based on the experience we have," said Mykola, the drone operator.

"I'm positive that after the war, Ukrainian instructors will train soldiers from the NATO countries on how to use Mavic [drones] for war and how to use FPV drones."