The Ukraine war has become a proving ground for drones that can evade jamming systems

In a field on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, a drone takes to the air as a soldier sitting in the back of a truck uses a controller to direct it during a test flight.

For months, Crabbe, who is identified only by his call sign in line with Ukrainian military bases, has been using drones equipped with munitions, such as grenades, to target Russian troops and equipment.

But this drone carries another essential element: a thin spool containing a 15-kilometre-long fiber-optic cable that unwinds as it flies, giving the drone and operator a wired connection and making the device immune to the most effective layer of defense – drone jammers saturating battlefields. In Ukraine.

“This is a technology war,” said Crabb, who spoke through a translator during an interview with CBC News.

“Our mission is to develop and stay ahead of the curve.”

The war in Ukraine is a testing ground

Although the technology is not new, Russia and Ukraine are exploiting the promise of fiber-optic cables, testing and improving new drones based on combat experience.

The Ukraine War led to the widespread use and rapid development of combat drones. Experts say innovation in drones that use fiber optic cables will have implications beyond the war zone because drone jammers are one of the few tools Security services They can be used to shoot down rogue or suspicious drones.

Jammers work by disrupting radio communication between the drone and the operator, causing the devices to malfunction or go off course.

However, a drone powered by fiber optic cable is immune to jammers, because it operates on a wired connection rather than radio signals.

While a Ukrainian blogger first reported that Russia was using fiber-optic drones last year, Ukraine has recently accelerated the development process with several different domestic manufacturers. Both sides are trying to increase their use of drones designed for cables because soldiers say jamming devices often render surveillance and attack drones ineffective.

The cable allows the drone to circumvent jamming systems, and soldiers say it also provides a clear video feed that helps the operator better aim at the target.

Krapp, 26, who is from Kharkiv and volunteered for the army at the beginning of the war, started using drones powered by fiber optic cables about a month and a half ago.

CBC News also accompanied Crab and another drone operator as they tested the new design. Below the drone is a large cone-shaped container containing a coil of cables.

When the drone took off, one end remained connected to a base station, positioned next to Crabb, who was wearing goggles displaying the video feed from the drone’s camera.

The new models have some limitations

During combat, there would usually be a grenade or other explosive attached to the drone, but while CBC was there, the team was just testing it, so nothing was attached except for the cable reel.

“We’re very likely to hit targets with this,” Crabbe said. ““We can bypass all existing electronic warfare systems.”

But Crabb says drones have limits. They are usually heavier than wireless ones, can be less flexible and more susceptible to wind.

If the drone is flying low through a densely forested area, it may also become entangled in trees.

But soldiers and other experts say the obvious benefit is that they can only be detected by sound and sight, and the only truly effective way to defend against these drones is to shoot them out of the sky.

On the battlefield, soldiers use models that can fly up to 20 kilometers. But inside a production facility in the Kharkiv region, Vlad, who wanted to be identified only by his first name for security reasons, was working on improving the drone design.

Scattered throughout several rooms are rows of batteries, 3D printers and boxes of fiber optic cables. The drones are produced here, and have been improved thanks to feedback from Ukrainian soldiers who use them in the field.

“It’s a very good technology,” said Vlad, who previously worked in IT before becoming involved in Ukraine’s booming drone industry. “I don’t understand why we didn’t use it a year ago.”

He said the drones they make are only used once: They collide with their target and explode.

“This genie must not be put back into the bottle.”

Vlad has been working with Troy Smothers, a former US Marine who helped train Ukrainian forces earlier in his career, and recently returned to Ukraine to help push the development of drones powered by fiber optic cables.

He helped connect Vlad with US technology company and defense contractor L3 Harris, which he says has provided a 30-kilometre reel of fiber optic cable that will be placed on a drone and tested within a few weeks.

Smothers has also been out with the military units launching the drones and Russian positions to get a better idea of ​​how they actually operate in a war zone.

While he believes fiber drones may be the new frontier when it comes to weapons, he noted that the ramifications of the technology are being discussed.

“This genie cannot be put back into the bottle,” he told CBC News in Kharkiv.

“(Defense companies) are already looking for effective countermeasures to counter fiber.“

David Hambling, a British journalist who covers drones and other military technology, says that because fiber drones cannot be detected like other drones, they could pose a major challenge to countries trying to protect against “the nefarious drones used by them.” terrorists or criminals.

He pointed to an event like the Super Bowl as an example. In 2024, before a game in Las Vegas between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, concerns arose about rogue drones. A previous match had to be temporarily halted after a drone was discovered above the pitch.

US Secretary of Homeland Security, along with local law enforcement agencies. Super Bowl A declared “No Drones” area. They said they have jamming equipment ready to detect and intercept anything in the area.

Drones that are immune to jammers can pose a security risk.

“You can’t have machine guns and anti-drone missiles in a Super Bowl stadium,” Hambling said in an email to CBC News.

Instead, he expected security services and armies to look into network weapons that attempt to ensnare and bring down the drone.

Although there is currently no effective way to stop drones powered by fiber optic cables, work is underway, Smothers says.

“War is always evolving,” he said, adding that Ukraine has become a testing ground for drones and military defense.