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

What I'm wondering is could you use the fibre optic line to trace back the launch site of the drone? Is there a way to cover up your tracks? I guess you would just always be moving around your launch sites so tracing would be pointless.

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  • [–] 12 points 5 months ago

    I thought this, too. But the wires are so thin it's harder than finding a needle in a haystack lol.

    They could also just pull the wire back when the job is done, hook up a spool to an electric drill, and watch that thing fly back

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

    Sure, but as you noted you just move where you launch from. These can be launched in numbers from the back of a truck, miles away. In these conflicts with a small front, that miles away is "miles inside enemy territory". And since it was launched from the back of a truck, even if you could somehow trace the wire miles inside enemy territory, by the time you do that said truck is long gone. You could bomb the position but...now you're just bombing an empty field that tomorrow more trucks could just roll around the craters and launch more drones. And now it's launching new drones at your position from again a different field.

    It's honestly amazing how simple and effective this technology is. I don't even know how you counter it. Maybe smaller drones that automatically target behind these drones to try to cut the wires? Sounds expensive

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