Market Data 
Ukraine is working on new kinds of fiber-optic combat drones that can break through Russian jamming. These don’t fly like the others; they’re ground robots.
Brave1, a Ukrainian government operation that facilitates innovation within the defense industry, told Business Insider that fiber-optic-controlled drones are in high demand with Kyiv’s military because they’re resistant to traditional electronic warfare.
The operation recently hosted an event in Ukraine where seven fiber-optic UGVs were tested. Compared to the fiber-optic first-person-view, or FPV, drones that fly in combat daily, the technology is still in the early stages, but the organization said that it had identified a few promising robots.
Brave 1 said that, based on the tests, the best roles for fiber-optic-controlled UGVs are likely combat or self-detonation missions rather than logistics tasks, where a robot moving back and forth on the same route could get its cables tangled or snagged on an object on the ground.
Unlike radio frequency connections, which are vulnerable to electronic signal jamming, fiber-topic cables preserve a steady link between a drone and its operator over a range of several miles. They are difficult to defend against and provide high-quality video transmission.
Fiber-optic cable connections have been limited to FPV drones, but Ukraine is now looking to expand the use of this technology to uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) due to Russian electronic warfare and because radio waves can be affected by terrain. The fiber-optic cables can help ensure a more stable connection.
UGVs are remote-controlled robots that can execute logistics and combat missions, such as delivering ammunition to the front lines, evacuating wounded soldiers, launching assaults on troop positions, placing land mines, and exploding beside armored vehicles.
A senior Ukrainian official previously told BI that he believed UGVs would be the “next game-changer technology” of the war.
Both Kyiv and Moscow have already used these robots in combat. Some are equipped with machine guns and thermal-imaging cameras for nighttime missions.
New fiber-optic UGVs would be an evolution in this technological space.
Fiber-optic cables “can also serve as an alternative communication channel for controlling UGVs in situations where other types of connection are unavailable due to strong EW interference,” Brave1 said.
Brave1 explained that because it now knows UGVs can operate with fiber-optic cables, the organization needs to develop tactics for the robots. It is doing so with help from the Ukrainian military and security forces. Kyiv plans to obtain thousands of these systems this year.
The UGV tests are the latest example of electronic interference fueling a high-stakes technology race between Ukraine and Russia. The two militaries are constantly looking for innovative solutions to keep their drones and robots going.
Ground robots have been less common during the war than the swarms of aerial drones, but they play a role. Ukraine also operates a fleet of naval drones, which Kyiv has relied on to harm Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
