Ukraine’s Upgraded Fiber Drones Are Deadlier At Longer Ranges
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The REBOFF by 3DTech is an unjammable fiber optic FPV with a range of 20 kilometers/ 12 miles 3DTech Less than eighteen months since the first prototypes appeared, drones controlled via fiber optic cable rather than radio have become a major weapon in Ukraine. Immune to jamming and able to go places where other drones cannot, fiber drones are almost impossible to stop. I talked to Oleksiy Zhulinskiy, CEO Ukraine’s 3DTech about their work in this field, the challenges of flying fiber drones, Chinese sabotage, and the future. The Russians may have a head start in numbers, but 3DTech is ramping up production of superior designs. “Now, our major challenge is scaling production to large volumes,” says Zhulinskiy. Steal From The Enemy, Then Improve The first Russian fiber FPVs appeared in early 2024. Many were skeptical whether fiber optic cables were strong enough for battlefield conditions. Ukrainian drone expert Serhii Flash thought fiber drones would likely be limited to very short ranges. But when they turned out to be effective weapons, the Ukrainians set about learning from their enemies. “Field-captured enemy prototypes from summer 2024 inspired ours,” says Zhulinskiy. Spool dispnesers are now more aerodynamic and reliablew 3DTech 3DTech started by replacing the heavy frames used by the Russians with lightweight carbon ones. With the additional weight of the spool, every ounce matters. Improving balance was also an issue. “Designing a fiber‑optic drone required careful weight distribution,” says Zhulinskiy. “We mount a spool with a certain length of fiber, but as it unspools and gets lighter, we must account for that in component placement.” Initially, like the Russians, 3DTech used commercial Chinese spools. But they found they could make better ones themselves. “The spool has evolved: aerodynamic housing to reduce drag, fiber-unspooling channel with a polished metal tip to reduce…
Filed under: News - @ July 24, 2025 9:29 am