SomebodythatIusedtonope
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In the video, a Russian FPV drone operating via a fiber-optic cable and waiting in ambush recorded the moment when a Ukrainian laser damages the control cable. As a result, the drone lost connection with its operator.
Fiber-optic FPV drones have become a new challenge on the battlefield because they are controlled through a cable and are largely unaffected by electronic warfare systems.
Due to the camera’s sensor effect, the laser appears as a glowing sphere in the footage, although in reality it is a narrow high-energy beam
Sebastopol
Fuu, we have come a long way in a short time. Drones evolve faster than most other weapon systems before them.
dynamojoe
It looks almost like a drone is flying down the street firing a laser just to damage optic cables that may be there. The effect on the ground reminds me of one of those rust-blasting lasers.
Bystandr
Yep
TomahawkJackson
It's exactly this. It was a little confusing at first since we think of 'drone' as flying (i.e. the ukranian aircraft with the laser), but the drone disabled the fiber optic cable of what we'd more likely think of as a "remotely operated vehicle" than a "drone". The older I get and the more the tech advances, the more I segment into "Drone" (flying rotorcraft), ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle on the ground), and RPV (Remotely Piloted Vehicle - flying fixed wing, like a Predator or RC Plane)
SomebodythatIusedtonope
It could be..I have no idea what kind of aircraft it might be. I know that to operate a high-frequency laser you need a lot of energy, and I don’t think a drone could support batteries that powerful for very long. Maybe a helicopter?
TomahawkJackson
Those fiber tethers are hair-thin glass (0.5 mm). Crack it and the drone loses link instantly. A 100 W fiber laser (engraving/rust-cleaning class) could do that. A heavy COTS cinema drone can easily lift 5 kg, so a laser + battery payload is plausible. 20 min flight lasing a road at 35 kmh/22 mph clears 10 km road per sortie. Fly back, swap packs, move up the cleared road, find the ground drone you killed, pull the SD card, post the video, and it winds up on imgur. :)
Atomic2
Okay let me see if I understand it. This video is from the perspective of the Russian drone, that is currently on the ground. The light in the sky is a Ukranian, anti-drone, drone, that is using a laser to destroy the fiber optic cable that is on the ground, connecting the russian drone to its operator?
SomebodythatIusedtonope
Yup
deaththeunholy
Yeah they’ve transitioned to fiber-optic cable controlled drones to minimize interference and this anti-drone weapon from Ukraine “solves” that and renders them inoperable.
Ukraine then probably came across this and retrieved the footage. Brilliant bit of work here
InspectorA5
Ha ha, I get it. The Ukrainian drone is just blanket blasting the road area with laser at high enough intensity to burn the fiber optic cable. The UKR drone doesn't see the RUS drone, its just burning EVERYTHING on the road. Good bit of kit fight there.