Russia Is Testing Unjammable Fiber-Optic Drone Boats

As the tech war moves forward amid fighting in Ukraine, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is testing new jamming-resistant naval drones guided by fiber-optic cables.

State media outlet TASS reported that the fleet received uncrewed vessels for trials, with combat testing scheduled for September.

Alexey Chadayev, the general director of the Ushkuynik Research and Production Center, the company that developed these new drones, said that these systems can be used for one-way attacks, as an aircraft carrier for aerial drones, and to fight Ukraine’s own naval drones, Russian media reported.

Chadayev said that the new drone has a protected fiber-optic cable that spins off a wheel that can be reinforced. The cable is heavy, and it sinks to the bottom as the reel unwinds, he said.

Both Russia and Ukraine have been experimenting with naval drones and drones with fiber-optic controls, which are immune to electronic warfare tactics. The two sides are racing to expand their fleets of uncrewed systems and blunt each other’s innovations.

Drone technology has been used in the Ukraine war more than in any other conflict in history, with both sides employing a range of uncrewed capabilities like quadcopters, octocopters, large fixed-wing drones, ground robots, naval drones, and more.

Ukraine led the charge when it came to naval drones for much of this war, developing homegrown models and using them to hit Russian ships and even take down Russian fighter jets. Unable to fight with a traditional naval force, these uncrewed capabilities offered an asymmetric way to battle Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

Ukraine also created the world’s first military unit dedicated solely to naval drones, and this force has battered Russia’s fleet, driving it away from its headquarters to the other side of the region.

Russia is learning, though. A Ukrainian vice admiral said last month that Russia is figuring out how to counter sea drone attacks. And Russia has also started making multiple types of naval drones itself after seeing firsthand their effect in combat.

In late August, Russia said it used a “high-speed” exploding naval drone to attack a Ukrainian ship, the Ukrainian Navy’s medium reconnaissance ship Simferopol, mimicking the kind of attacks that Ukrainian forces have regularly executed against Russian warships and patrol vessels. During the earlier July Storm exercise, Russia tested drone boats against maritime targets.

Amid naval drone developments, another tech race has unfolded with drones and electronic warfare countermeasures. Advancements in the latter have made drone operations more complicated, jamming and disabling uncrewed systems.

Fiber-optic drones emerged as a counter to electronic warfare. The drones are connected to their operators by cables rather than radio frequencies vulnerable to electronic interference. Both sides are using these now and innovating further with them. One Ukrainian company said that it’s developing one with a range of up to 100 kilometers, which is more than double the range of current models.

Unable to defend against these with electronic warfare, troops depend on low-cost solutions like shotguns. There’s no guarantee in that, but soldiers say it’s their best chance at stopping them.

These systems aren’t infallible though. The thin cable that runs behind the drones can get hung in trees or on other obstacles. There is battlefield footage of countless cables strung in trees like spider webs. If it gets hung up, the drone may be rendered useless.

That’s an issue that could occur in the water, too, depending on the area where the fiber-optic naval drones are used. Currents, debris, and other weaponry could interfere with any cables there, creating the potential for tangling.

But those risks may be outweighed by the potential benefits, such as clearer video footage and resistance to electronic warfare.