German developers are demonstrating in Ukraine a new drone called HCX, which is immune to interference and radio frequency detection because it communicates with its operator via a fiber optic cable.
Small drones are omnipresent in this conflict; Ukraine plans to build more than a million this year. But radio frequency interference has also intensified. In a recent speech, the French army’s chief of staff, General Pierre Schill, claimed that 75% of the drones in Ukraine had been destroyed by electronic warfare, severing the link between the drone and its operator, suggesting that the drone’s reign will possibly soon come to an end.
The HCX manufactured by HIGHCAT, founded in Konstanz, Germany, unwinds a fibre optic cable in flight. This provides a high-bandwidth knowledge link that is insensitive to radio interference. And since there is no radio emission, neither the operator nor the drone can be located and pointed.
Jan Hartmann, co-founder of HIGHCAT, explains that the cable only exerts a force of about 250 grams on the drone, so it does not interfere with flight. It has a variety of flights up to 12 miles/20 kilometers. The drone drops the cable as if it were a trail of breadcrumbs, so that it does not get tangled.
“The fiber is durable: flying over trees and water is no problem,” says Hartmann. “Flying in circles is also great and the drone can even fly backwards. “
Previous efforts to expand fiber-optic steering for drones include DARPA’s Close Combat Lethal Recon (CCLR) in the early 2000s and a Russian drone captured in Ukraine in March. DARPA eventually abandoned fiber optics for a radio and CCLR became SwitchBlade. used by U. S. forces. The Russian drone seems to have been an experimental style and only one example has been seen. Some missiles, such as the TOW, use steering through copper wires, but they only carry signals and do not transmit video.
((There are also drones tethered with thick wires that transmit force and data, but are limited to flying above their base station and are therefore necessarily static towers or platform bureaucracy, electronic warfare bureaucracy). )
Fiber optics have attracted little interest in the future because radio works so well and interference wasn’t considered a problem. But in Ukraine’s intense electronic warfare environment, drone brands will have to keep replacing their operating frequency due to the intensity of the interference. Some combat cars now feature multiple roof-mounted drone jammers to create a protective “bubble” several hundred meters in diameter, while both sides now deploy gigantic amounts of backpack jammers and anti-aircraft guns. drones, pistol-shaped guns that fire a narrow radius beam. Waves.
“The generation was designed taking into account the front lines, that is, the existing developments in Ukraine,” says Hartmann. “We wanted to create a COTS [Commercial Off The Shelf] formula that could not be hindered by enemy combatants. “
The HCX drone can fly unhindered in the most intense electronic warfare, but taking it to work wasn’t easy.
“The fiber should not be too easy to unwind, but will detach from the propeller due to the wind,” explains Hartmann. “In addition, the fiberglass will have to not twist when unwinding, otherwise it will break. The Fly-By-Fiber generation uses specially wound and coated fiberglass spools, which are installed using a special winding technique.
DARPA’s Lethal Recon Close Combat drone, a fiber-optic-guided loitering munition for urban combat
Fibre optic navigation carries a heavy penalty for the radio. The maximum payload of the HCX is five pounds/11 pounds, but a component of this load is absorbed through the fiber optic cable reel. Six miles of cable weighs about 3 pounds, so a drone with a full 12-mile reel only has about five pounds of payload. However, Hartmann points out that this is more than enough for a camera with 10x optical zoom and thermal imaging. Or a decent-sized ammunition.
Other benefits come with a popular 1000Base-T connection with a speed of 1000 megabits per second, about a hundred times that of a radio link, ensuring a clear, high-definition view of the flight. And while other FPV drones lose their connection when they descend below the radio horizon during the final dive over a target, a fiber-optic drone will maintain communication.
Fiber optic connection provides a clearer image than radio knowledge link
In principle, this type of drone can also explore the interior of buildings or tunnels. Radio bandwidth limitations mean that only a few radio-controlled drones can operate in an area, but HCX drones can fly without interference.
The HCX could also later serve as a fiber optic cable, a high-capacity link for combat positions, which could be used when other means of communication are blocked.
The other generation that evolved to fight interference is autonomy, in which AI-powered drones wear out their missions after wasting communication with the operator. Fibre optic communications have the merit of being able to relay video images in real time, while an autonomous drone will have to wait until it can return to radio diversity to download data.
Hartmann says HIGHCAT is talking to several potential clients/sponsors but cannot provide details. Later this month, a team will travel to Ukraine to demonstrate the HCX and demonstrate how well it plays in genuine conditions. The plan is to test it in a controlled environment rather than a jammer, but it’s possible the drones could get much closer to real Russian jammers.
“If you want to see it first-hand, this is possible,” says Hartmann.
HIGHCAT aims to have the HCX ready for production in November and then could produce 3,000 sets per month with its business partner ODM GmbH. If HCX succeeds, others will most likely follow suit, and drones with fiber-optic functions will most likely proliferate. Which is bad news for anyone who relies on sunscreens to protect themselves.
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