FPV drones on a cable: Russia increasingly deploys wire-guided drones

In February, Ukrainian forces for the first time came across the wreckage of a Russian first-person view (FPV) drone attached to a ten-kilometre fibre-optic cable. Further Russian flights using this technique were recorded in the summer, but Ukraine classified them as “experiments”. Now, however, Ukrainian drone warfare specialists are sounding the alarm: Russia is using wire-guided FPV drones more and more often, and the technique is proving extremely accurate.

An old principle: guidance by wire

The first experiments took place as early as the Second World War; from the end of the 1950s, wire-guided anti-tank missiles then became widespread.

Their advantage: the gunner can steer the missile in flight without needing a radio channel. Electronic countermeasures (jamming) therefore cannot disrupt them. And because no frequencies are occupied, many such missiles can be used simultaneously in a confined area.

In the West, HOT, TOW and Milan are among the best-known examples. In the Austrian Armed Forces (Bundesheer), the Bill 2000 anti-tank guided weapon is controlled in this way.

FPV drones without a radio link

FPV drones are mostly radio-controlled. This requires one channel from the controller to the drone and a second one that carries the image from the drone back to the controller. Warning receivers such as the so-called “Sukork” can detect these signals and alert those carrying them. When jammers are activated, the radio transmission of the enemy drone can be disrupted, rendering the drone harmless.

With wire-guided drones this does not work: no warning receiver goes off, no jammer can interfere, and the pilot's transmitter cannot be located electronically. On top of that, the FPV pilot gets a much better image. While radio-controlled FPV drones require relatively great effort for a very poor image, the wire-guided drone transmits high-resolution, smooth video.

Ever greater ranges

For anti-tank missiles, the range grew from an initial two kilometres to four kilometres later and to five to eight kilometres in the latest generations. In Ukraine, by contrast, a wire-guided FPV drone that had flown nine kilometres was found as early as the end of September. Chinese dealers now offer components with 20 kilometres of cable.

In Ukraine there are therefore calls to develop ideas against the new threat. There is certainly cause for concern: even a hit on a Leopard 2 has already been documented (see image above).

In Germany, the company Highcat is experimenting with wire-guided drones (see top image).