Fiber Optic Drones: Posing a Significant C-UAS Challenge | Article | The United States Army

Your version of Internet Explorer is out of date. It has known security flaws and can cause issues displaying content on this page, and other websites.

Learn how to update your browser

Fiber Optic Drones: Posing a Significant C-UAS Challenge

By Alex Braszko, Center for Army Lessons LearnedAugust 12, 2025

Share on Twitter

Share on Facebook

Share on Reddit

Share on LinkedIn

Share via Email

(Photo Credit: U.S. Army)

VIEW ORIGINAL

Download the full article here : No. 25-1046, Fiber Optic Drones (Aug 25) [PDF - 6.1 MB]

Given the rapid pace of technological advancements on today’s battlefield (particularly in AI) understanding the capabilities of adaptive technologies and unmanned systems is imperative, especially for Soldiers. These systems have demonstrated exceptional effectiveness on the battlefield, including lethal effects on troops. While the U.S. Army is not currently engaged in combat, it is exploring human-machine integration (HMI) and all Soldiers have an obligation to stay technically and tactically proficient in understanding the very real unmanned threats they will likely face. That includes understanding technological and operational nuances of drones.

One notable development Soldiers should pay attention to comes in the form of fiber optic spool-fed drones. On the front cover of the 26 March 2025 issue of the Stars and Stripes, LTG Joseph Ryan discusses how far the U.S. Army lags other militaries adjusting to fiber optic drones. Meanwhile, any Soldier paying attention to technological advances in warfare in Ukraine over the past three years undoubtedly notices a cat and mouse game of drone versus counter-drone scenarios being played out on the battlefield. As one side develops a new drone capability giving it tactical advantage for a short period of time, inevitably the other side develops a counter technology to offset that advantage.

(Photo Credit: https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2025-03-26/army-fiber-optic-drones-<br>17264379.html)

VIEW ORIGINAL

One of the more recent instances where a developed innovation continues to evade counter technology and enjoy relatively unrestricted access on the battlefield, despite the adversary’s best efforts to defeat it, is fiber optic spool-fed drones. These drones use a thin lightweight fiber optic cable that is unwound from a spool as it flies along to communicate with an operator. Utilization of a fiber optic cable makes it extremely difficult to detect and target such drones with some counter-unmanned aircraft systems (c-UAS). In this publication, we will dive into the concept of fiber optic spool-fed drones and how they work, consider their benefits, weigh their shortcomings, address potential applications for their employment, and reveal a few of the recent developments in successfully trying to counter them.

How Spool-fed Drones Work

Fiber optic spool-fed drones operate on a simple yet ingenious principle. A thin, high-strength fiber optic cable is wound onto a spool in a factory, encased in a protective shell of some kind, and then attached to a drone's body (usually to the bottom or rear portion of the drone). As the drone takes off, the cable unwinds from the spool. Because the fiber optic cable is extremely thin and lightweight, it can unwind at high speeds without generating excessive drag. Both video and command signals pass over the fiber optic cable, and as a result, allow a drone operator to see his target and surrounding environment clearly and in real time.

(Photo Credit: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS))

VIEW ORIGINAL

Advantages of Spool-fed Drones

In a nutshell, a fiber optic drone operator can control the drone and see the battlefield and potential targets without worrying about electromagnetic interference. This is good news when considering the contested and congested operational environment in Ukraine from an electromagnetic emission perspective. While fiber optic drones contain electronic subsystems like flight controllers or electronic stability control systems that do emit electromagnetic emissions while operating, those signals are extremely weak and detecting them is difficult. Research will undoubtably continue developing ways to defeat and detect fiber optic drones, but current processes require physical access to the cables and have not proven very successful. Social media posts regularly show Russians and Ukrainians successfully using fiber optic spool-fed unmanned aircraft systems and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) in Ukraine to continuously operate on the battlefield, despite robust electronic warfare systems on both sides. More specifically, the advantages of fiber optic drones include:

High-speed, low-latency data connections : This allows real-time video transmission and command and control (C2) of the drone. Clearer images from the sUAS in real time enable better identification of...