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Ok, I'll bite, what is a 'fibre-optic' drone? (hexbear.net)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/askchapo@hexbear.net
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Is it literally just a drone with a wired connection to the controller? How does that even work? Doesn't that make for a very limited range?

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[–] 48 points 5 months ago (28 children)

Instead of radio waves they have a spool of wire. Prevents jammers from jamming the drones using electromagnetic waves.

Unclear on the specific specs of the drones Hezbollah uses, but the distance seems to be in the ballpark of 3-20 miles.

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  • [–] 56 points 5 months ago* (22 children)

    Pic of the drum that holds the spool. It literally just unspools km after km of hair thin optical fiber as it flies around. The added weight does limit range.

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  • [–] 48 points 5 months ago (4 children)

    Kinda crazy you can fit 20km of wire in a container that size but I'm always surprised when i cut 4 heads of cabbage and it's enough to feed 50 people, volume be crazy

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  • [–] 41 points 5 months ago

    It's so funny because when I was in university there were multiple courses dedicated to electromagnetic warfare, specifically around taking down drones or assuming control over them using man in the middle attacks.

    All to be countered by this simple, yet intuitive solution

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  • [–] [S] 15 points 5 months ago (4 children)

    But wouldn't it get stuck in a tree or something? I suppose you have to operate it from high ground?

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  • [–] 34 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    Since the cable unspools from the drone, getting it tangled isn't really an issue, unless you somehow loop the drone around and get the cable caught up in the rotors.

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  • [–] [S] 16 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    Oooohhh ok now I get it. Thanks!

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Also, there are usually three kinds of drones. Monitor or overwatch drones, drop drones, and missile or suicide drones. Overwatch drones go up, do a set pattern, identify targets for the suicide drones or drop drones to hit. None of them require advanced flight knowledge or the kind of maneuvers that would be tangled in the trees.

    The Ukrainians have a squad that is notorious for being able to get suicide drones inside very small windows on buildings, but this kind of high intensity maneuvering is pretty easily countered with cheap netting. The fact of the matter is that setting up an electronic jamming perimeter with netting prevents most drone attacks, but the issue is that setting these up while pushing out is extremely dangerous, as you are extremely vulnerable to wired drop drones.

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (9 children)

    Why not have the spool on the ground to make the drones lighter?

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  • [–] 14 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (7 children)

    Spooling from the drone prevents movement restriction due to entanglement.

    EDIT: also, the drone may not need to support the weight of the spool but it does have to pull the KMs long fiber optic line behind it.

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago (6 children)

    Why not have a spool on both ends?

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    Split the difference, spool in the middle

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  • [–] 7 points 5 months ago

    The entire length of the fiber would have to be dragged along with the drone if you did it that way. With the spool on the drone, the unspooled fiber falls to the ground and is stationary.

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  • [–] 25 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (4 children)

    Unclear on the specific specs of the drones Hezbollah uses, but the distance seems to be in the ballpark of 3-20 miles.

    The Electronic Intifada reported that the drones are built from components stripped from other common commodities^[https://invidious.nerdvpn.de/watch?v=hY25JlG7EY8&t=938], meaning the drone supply chain cannot be targeted by sanctions while also allowing the drones to be customized to the mission. They also report that the fibre optics enable zero-latency communication between the drones and their operators, and in addition the drones can operate low to the ground^[so low to be in the grass https://invidious.nerdvpn.de/watch?v=504BsSnX5Uc&t=1314] and in hilly/city terrain that might otherwise naturally block radio frequencies^[https://invidious.nerdvpn.de/504BsSnX5Uc?t=2042]

    EDIT: Deeper dive into the supply chain and construction of the drones^[https://invidious.nerdvpn.de/watch?v=w42XSiXMCEE&t=3345]

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago

    I wonder how long it will be before Israel orders the United States to try to classify fibre optic cable as a controlled technology requiring permits to manufacture and distribute. It wouldn't work of course, but I wonder if they'll try anyway.

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

    "Using common parts that are in all kinds of other things"

    The photo shows an off the shelf drone frame with off the shelf motors, propellers and antennas.

    I'd love to think they are building their own flight controllers from cellphone parts and winding their own brushless motors, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

    "they are using common parts used in common appliances"

    Name even one part aside from maybe the batteries.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago

    I can only go on what is reported. I also don't think it's something so guerrilla as winding motors, but a mixture of smuggling and repurposing. To your point there are several^[https://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/news-bulletin-reports/784852/hezbollahs-drone-supply-key-components-sourced-from-europe/en] reports^[https://www.newsrael.com/posts/ag6hnmf48gf] of busting European drone smuggling networks destined for Lebanon.

    At the same time Hezbollah makes their own claims such as this propaganda video they released of their drone manufacturing facilities, and an article with some more context.

    The release appears intended to emphasize Hezbollah’s claim of maintaining localized production and logistical independence despite regional conflict and repeated Israeli assertions that the group’s military capabilities have been significantly degraded.

    Hezbollah has long stated that it developed an internal weapons production network focused on drones, rockets, and precision-guided systems. In previous speeches, the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah described the movement as possessing domestically rooted infrastructure capable of sustaining operations under blockade or wartime conditions.

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