Next evolution, carrier drones. Larger fiber drones that carry smaller radio drones and can also act as a repeater when needed.
this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
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So basically we need a REALLY big wall
Multiphasic drones capable of passing through solid material are next!
This kind of idea is between genius and stupid.
It's a cheap an easy solution to a lot of problem, and it sounds like the kind of proposal an intern would do
Sure, but a 20km attack radius in terms of something that can fly seems... Idk less than effective.
It would work for precision bombing nearby targets, but for long range strikes like Ukraine does, they need to be untethered.
But in those cases, i doubt they run remotely, rather they set a GPS destination and they use a combination of astral navigation and inertial navigation to hit their intended target, just like missiles.
Just much slower, smaller and lower flying missiles. Can't shoot what you can't see on radar.
It's neither, they're spare wire reels for older tow missiles which were wired for the same reason.
TIL thanks,
I heard about wired torpedo but didn't know it was also a thing for missiles
Yep, still used in combat too and chances are you've seen a video and just didn't know.
Anytime you see a video filmed from behind a missile and it keeps making smingly random swirling jinking movements it's likely to be a tow missile.
Curiously, the first wired torpedoes, you'd propel the torpedo forward by pulling on the wire that came out the back of it.
Drone manufacturer: "We're having trouble with our drones getting jammed, any ideas?"
Intern: "I always use CAT6 for my pc"
Drone manufacturer: "You goddamn genius!"
Kids these days relying on wireless everything and don't realize the security and reliability of a wired connection.
This has been going on for a few months now. Why is this a "new threat" ?
There have even already been battlefield videos where you see tons of fibre optic in the air.
On the scale of human warfare, "a few months" is pretty new. Frankly, its fairly new on the timescale of the Ukraine war at this point.
that is a newer threat
What does that look like? Can't imagine what tons of fiber in the air looks like, do you have a video you can share with the rest of the class
Imagine walking into a spider's web, and you couldn't just wipe it off your face.
It's a minor concern when a nation's existence is on the line, but I do wonder how all those wires will affect the fauna and environment.
I do wonder how all those wires will affect the fauna and environment.
I have actually no idea what the effects would be here. But when this land gets reclaimed by Ukraine they'll need to clean it up regardless. There's mines and other explosives, burned out cars, and even dead bodies to clear.
Wouldn't the fiber lead directly back to the pilot, though? You'd have to constantly be moving locations, otherwise they could just follow the wire.
Edit: I know, I know, the more I've thought about it--and despite them actually proving it's possible to do as mentioned in the article--it's just not very practical to do in many situations. As one commenter mentioned below, after seeing pictures of some trees, numerous drones create a web among trees/bushes/etc. So tracing lines when drones are launched from multiple locations would be extremely difficult and they could even set up ambushed at certain points if they saw enemy scouts doing it.
This is not new tech. We have been using wires like this in the battlefield since the 70's. I was a TOW gunner and shot plenty of missiles that have a wire like this drone. Except, ya know it's a missile and it moves significantly faster. TOW stands for Tube launched Opitically Wire guided missile.
Ask away if you wanna know anything about em.
Would you rather have had wire drones over your TOWs?
Or just knee replacements
I'm guessing the wired break down quickly?
Lol, I doubt it. I'm guessing 1,000-2,000 years.
What kind of comms do the wires allow? Sending guidance and simultaneously receiving video?
What was the physicality of wires back then (and do you know what they are today)? Would it feel like walking into a spider's web, or how sturdy were/are those wires?
How often would a write break, and would that mean total loss of control or is there some form of fall-back?
Curious minds want to know! Thank you.
Well, since we've got you:
What would be the minimum reasonable distance to use a TOW (with accompanying operator control) vs something unguided (either the TOW or otherwise)?
From the article :
There are examples of drone operators from earlier this year being able to trace the cables back to the positions from where they were launched and target the enemy crews. But if this technique was a successful one, fibre optic drones would have disappeared as soon as they appeared on the battlefield, when – from presidents to workshops – all the talk is of increasing numbers.
Could have controller-> radio -> base station-> fibre —> drone
It's real long, like miles of fairly small transparent cable.
Not just that but the pilot can be on the other side of the world from wherever the fiber leads out.
Most likely the fiber is coming out of a bunker that just has some switches and a TACLANE or something similar. Doesn't take much infra...you need that, some sort of low-latency network connection, and room for drones to take off.
Once it's set up, the site can be unmanned. Hell they can rig it to blow itself up after the mission is complete, so that nothing can be recovered from the infra if it's found.
For that matter, most of the drones flight path could be pre- programmed...the pilot only there as a contingency. Doing that, one operator could control several drones simultaneously.
You won't be able to just follow the wire, it's millimeter thin and extremely light. And drone operators need to constantly move anyway.
It'll be hard to spot but easy to follow. But the drone and the wire don't need to go in a straight line. Anything could be waiting on the route between the operator and the drone.
I don't know about "easy to follow." Have you ever followed 6 miles of transparent fishing line through an active warzone to see what was at the other end? That seems to approximate the difficulty.
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If they're up to 20 km it could take you a while and they're very small and difficult to see, possibly going through difficult terrain.
Plus, by the time you find the end, the crew can have moved on.
You could also exploit that to ambush the people trying to follow the cable farther into enemy territory.
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