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Solar reflection on drone fiber-optic cables leads to Russian UAV team elimination (video)

Ukrainian Ghost of Khortytsia battalion traced FPV fiber-optic cables gleaming in sunlight back to a control station, neutralizing five Russian drone pilots.
byYuri Zoria
19/02/2025
2 minute read
solar reflection drone fiber-optic cables leads russian uav team elimination pilots eliminated after being tracked fpv donetsk oblast russian-drone-pilots-killed ukrainian national guardsmen ghost khortytsia unmanned systems battalion killed operators discovering
Russian drone pilots eliminated after being tracked by their FPV UAV fiber-optic cables in Donetsk Oblast. Screenshots: Ukrainian National Guard’s Khortytsia Ghost Brigade
Solar reflection on drone fiber-optic cables leads to Russian UAV team elimination (video)

Ukrainian national guardsmen from the Ghost of Khortytsia unmanned systems battalion killed Russian drone operators after discovering their field operations base by tracing fiber-optic cables, according to the Battalion’s footage shared on 17 February.

First-person-view (FPV) drones guided by fiber-optic lines are particularly dangerous, as they cannot be detected by radio signals or jammed since they do not rely on the radio spectrum. Additionally, they maintain high-quality and uninterrupted video link, and can maneuver smoothly in the most challenging environments.

Drone warfare innovations have become a defining feature of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. Unmanned vehicles of various sizes, operating in the air, on land, and at sea, play a central role, with technology advancing rapidly from both sides.

Militarnyi broke down the operation, saying that according to the footage, pilots from the 15th Kara-Dag Brigade spotted a cluster of thin fiber-optic wires from Russian FPV drones reflecting in the sunlight during a reconnaissance mission.

Russian FPV drone fiber optic cables gleaming in the sun. Image combined from screenshots from a video by the Ukrainian National Guard’s Khortytsia Ghost Brigade

The guardsmen’s drone followed these cables to locate a Russian UAV control station situated in an abandoned building where the enemy drone operators had positioned themselves. Ukrainian strike drones were immediately deployed to eliminate the target.

Five Russian drone pilots were reportedly eliminated on site using FPV drones and quadcopter munition-dropping UAVs. OSINT analyst Moklasen geolocated their position in the Pokrovsk direction, approximately 6 kilometers from the frontline on the northern outskirts of Progress settlement.

Militarnyi notes that this incident highlights important vulnerabilities in the increasingly popular fiber-optic-controlled strike drone technology. 

“Unlike strike drones with traditional (i.e. radio, – Ed.) communication systems, pilots of fiber-optic drones face significant risks, as the cables can reveal their positions, forcing them to frequently relocate for safety,” the publication wrote.

Earlier this year, Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Defense Innovations at the Ministry of Defense showcased Ukrainian fiber-optic FPV drones to representatives of various military command branches. Several domestic manufacturers presented more than a dozen of drone models.

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