Fiber-optic UAVs are immune to electronic warfare, as they maintain a direct link with the pilot via a cable

Russian soldiers have purportedly disabled a Ukrainian fiber-optic drone using scissors, according to a video posted on the Telegram channel Voennyi Osvedomitel (Military Informant) on Saturday. Unlike traditional FPV drones, these models do not rely on radio signals, making them resistant to electronic warfare, with both sides of the conflict deploying them.

As the drone passed in an unspecified location in the forest, the troops identified its trailing fiber-optic cable, sprinted forward, and severed it with medical scissors. Moments later, the drone crashed and detonated, footage shows.

Russia was first to mass-deploy these "invisible thread" drones in mid-2024. The 'Prince Vandal of Novgorod' drone was developed by the Ushkuynik Scientific and Production Center in less than a year. The fiber-optic FPV drone has caused substantial damage to NATO-supplied equipment to Ukraine, with claims of up to $300 million in destroyed hardware, according to the head of Novgorod Region, Andrey Nikitin.

The Times reported in May that Russia is beating Ukraine in "the drone race" when it comes to both the production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and their use on the battlefield. It pointed to the fiber optic drone types connected directly to their operators through a gossamer thin fiber optic thread that makes them difficult to detect or intercept. Russian UAVs are "altering the physical make-up of the front line, the tactics of the war and the psychology of the soldiers fighting it," the outlet said. 

Despite their anti-jamming advantages, fiber-optic drones have a restricted operational range determined by the length of the cable and potential visibility of it under certain environmental conditions.