Fiber optic guided FPV drones. The future of land combat?

[Vikramaditya1]

FPV is much more precise in terms of control. Also, in terms of cost, FPV is only a few thousand dollars, a tiny fraction of NLOS.

What if it got stuck in a tree? It's a wire right?

 

[Yommie]

What if it got stuck in a tree? It's a wire right?

It has a spool. It does not get stuck.

 

[Vikramaditya1]

It has a spool. It does not get stuck.

That's no guarantee the wire won't get stuck on something. It's not moving in straight line is it?

 

[Yommie]

That's no guarantee the wire won't get stuck on something. It's not moving in straight line is it?

It's not very fast and control is very accurate. Getting stuck is very rare. And even if it happens, it's easy for the operator to get unstuck.

The thing is it usually zips along the ground. Getting stuck in a tree is practically not possible.

 

[Vikramaditya1]

It's not very fast and control is very accurate. Getting stuck is very rare. And even if it happens, it's easy for the operator to get unstuck.

The thing is it usually zips along the ground. Getting stuck in a tree is practically not possible.

Interesting.
But my concern is not fully addressed. Let's say the cable is like 1 km long, you got to operate something that may go through twists and turns to hide your location and moves ahead. This is a nice system in a desert or flat plains setting with say 1 -2 km range. But once you get to the mountains or the jungle this gets ineffective

 

[Yommie]

@Viet @Sharma Ji

I'm lovin' this weapon. It's like playing a video game.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineRussiaReport/comments/1fsykid/ru_pov_russian_fiberoptic_fpv_drone_hit_leopard

 

[Oscar]

Interesting.
But my concern is not fully addressed. Let's say the cable is like 1 km long, you got to operate something that may go through twists and turns to hide your location and moves ahead. This is a nice system in a desert or flat plains setting with say 1 -2 km range. But once you get to the mountains or the jungle this gets ineffective

Wires get stuck all the time, and the way they try to get over it is have lubricant on them so the spooling doesn’t stop.

However, that doesn’t mean the wires wont get stuck/ break or plain get jumbled if you try to scale these weapons.

Fiber optics are “slightly” better due to diameter than normal wire guided systems but at the end in any foliage environment or otherwise this gets difficult.

So it’s a question of having both options - RF and Fiber or knowing limits.

It’s not like these are being thrown out in the thousands like the usual FPVs and a 7km spool of Fiber optic is not relatively cheap either.

 

[Yommie]

Wires get stuck all the time, and the way they try to get over it is have lubricant on them so the spooling doesn’t stop.

However, that doesn’t mean the wires wont get stuck/ break or plain get jumbled if you try to scale these weapons.

Fiber optics are “slightly” better due to diameter than normal wire guided systems but at the end in any foliage environment or otherwise this gets difficult.

So it’s a question of having both options - RF and Fiber or knowing limits.

It’s not like these are being thrown out in the thousands like the usual FPVs and a 7km spool of Fiber optic is not relatively cheap either.

Modern tanks have no defense against them. On top of that, these can zip along the ground, making them extremely difficult to detect.

 

[Oscar]

Modern tanks have no defense against them. On top of that, these can zip along the ground, making them extremely difficult to detect.

that statement has no relevance nor adds/subtracts on the argument of line entanglement or breaks.

 

[Yommie]

that statement has no relevance nor adds/subtracts on the argument of line entanglement or breaks.

Usually they have a recon drone working with it. Any trees would have been detected well in advance.

 

[Yommie]

that statement has no relevance nor adds/subtracts on the argument of line entanglement or breaks.

Typically these things are guided to their targets by high flying small recon drones which are out of range of radio jammers.

 

[Yommie]

that statement has no relevance nor adds/subtracts on the argument of line entanglement or breaks.

FPV drones are extremely agile and can fly in any direction and hover in mid air. Unlike a missile which can only fly forward. Even if it gets tangled on a tree, the operator can easily untangle it.

 

[Oscar]

Typically these things are guided to their targets by high flying small recon drones which are out of range of radio jammers.

Still has no real relationship other than an employment strategy but does not remove entanglement which is a problem with wired systems in foliage

 

[Oscar]

FPV drones are extremely agile and can fly in any direction and hover in mid air. Unlike a missile which can only fly forward. Even if it gets tangled on a tree, the operator can easily untangle it.

But it does get tangled and regardless of the operator untangling it is a problem which you seemed to indicate did not exist