Posted on 03/08/2024 9:52:17 AM PST by House Atreides
“When I said that electronic warfare will soon not be able to prevent FPV drones from flying over the battlefield, I was not joking. Several extraordinary solutions have already been invented that reduce the efforts of radio electronics engineers to zero.
Ukrainian channels publish photographs of a drone(presumably Russian drone) that was controlled via a fiber optic cable. Such a guidance system is not afraid of any interference, and the camera produces the most beautiful image without the slightest delay. So it’s time to equip armored vehicles with means of physically destroying drones.
Whether it will be a small-caliber air defense system, a laser or something similar to the Arena system - time will tell. But now it is necessary to seriously work in this direction. Drones remain cheap but are becoming more efficient, while tanks are only becoming more expensive.
So basically there was a 10km long fibre optic cable which was attached to drone and was being unwound in the air until it reached it's target. Btw militaries around the world already use some ATGM systems with wire guided systems" (Masno)
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
“For every measure there is a countermeasure.”
- Sun Tzu-ish
A single strand weighs about as much as 30lb test fishing line.
I thought certain cars had this “drive-by-wire” technology. But I never saw any optic cable following along.
“ Stupid drone eating tree!!”
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Yes, such drones would not be able to fly home with the trailing cable that was unreeled and left in its flight path. So their current utility would be limited to one-way kamikaze missions where the target’s general position was already known (perhaps by “spotter” surveillance drones). Adding a fiber cable disconnect ability would give it potential to be homed.
“ Fiber optic cable weights 752 kilograms (1757 lbs) per kilometer”
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What is used for these devices is certainly not the robust multithread fiber optic cable we use domestically. Such cables are designed for long term use and have all sorts of “armor” and moisture protections built in. It would only make sense to use light weight single tube thread only suitable for a single mission. In other words I suspect it would be even more “expendable” than the drone it serves.
Well, this asymmetric stuff almost starts sounding like the neocon justification for going in and blowing up every place that makes them.
Yes, I’m sure almost the entire mass of direct-burial fiber optic is sheathing.
One reference says typical weight of 1000 feet could be ten to twenty pounds.
The actual fibers are much smaller than what you see along the road being buried. Surprised the other guy didn’t know that.
And then you would have fiber optic threads draped everywhere. Not sure what problems that would cause.
Somewhere between “Uggh spider web, where is the spider now?”
And heads being cut off when they run through the cable without seeing it.
Do you know how EXPENSIVE that is? Honestly, I don't have a clue.
Yet in reality, these can be traced to source.
Someone mentioned a cheaper, lower caliber CWIS as a possible option. I wonder if a .22 caliber lR rimfire version exists?
aka “The Mumsie Consortium”, with its multiple shifts...
“So basically there was a 10km long fibre optic cable which was attached to drone..”
That’s quite a bit of weight to be pulling.
L
Not a bad price.
Fiber Optic Cable Weight Calculator
https://gegcalculators.com/fiber-optic-cable-weight-calculator/
It depends on what it’s covered with. The fiber itself weighs almost nothing but is extremely fragile. I have a hard time seeing 10km of it surviving. And it’s pretty expensive.
Fiber also has distance limits depending on the type. Single mode, multi mode, etc. There’s only one type that can carry data that distance.
L
Hum. Perhaps they are using electric optical polymer rather than glass. ( I have no idea of the weight or tensile strength though.)
“aka “The Mumsie Consortium”, with its multiple shifts...”
That is an interesting thought. I was thinking it was one guy running the op.
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