Fiber optic drone

A fiber optic drone is an uncrewed vehicle, typically an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (usually a first person view (FPV) loitering munition) which uses an optical fiber as its primary guidance and teleoperation link. These drones usually have fiber optic cables between 5 and 20 km long, although prototypes with up to 50 km range have been developed. They are impossible for defence forces to jam and very difficult to detect.

In the early 2000’s, US military research agency DARPA developed an idea for a loitering munition controlled by fiber-optic cable under the Close Combat Lethal Recon program, but it was never fielded.

During the Russo-Ukrainian war both Ukraine and Russia rely on electronic warfare to defeat radio-controlled FPV drones. Jammers are used on trenches and vehicles. Pocket-size jammers for soldiers were also developed.

Fiber optic FPV drones were first fielded by Russia in the spring of 2024 and by Ukraine soon after. Maximum strike ranges have increased over time, with Russian fiber optic drones hitting areas of Kramatorsk more than 12 miles behind the front lines in October 2025.

To counter fiber-optic drones, as of 2025, Ukrainian soldiers deploy lines of stretched barbed wire, with a battery-driven motor that makes the barbed wire rotate around its axis. This has the effect of entangling and breaking the thin fiber-optic wire laid on the ground by fiber-optic drones along their flight path.

The long trails of fiber optic cable left behind the drones on the battlefield may be a significant source of plastic pollution because most of the cables are made from synthetic polymers such as poly(methyl methacrylate) and fluoropolymers.