Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces have introduced universal fiber-optic navigation modules, named Shovkopryad ("Silkworm"), designed for integration into air, ground, and maritime drones. The “Silkworm” fiber optic module on a drone. Photo: Unmanned Systems Forces. This indigenous innovation signals a major leap in. This is the byproduct of a transformative (and terrifying) new weapon called the fiber-optic-guided first-person view (FPV) drone. One of the ways this can be achieved is by attaching a. Fiber-optic drones first emerged at scale in August 2024 in response to Ukraine's surprise cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk region. The territory Ukraine controlled in Kursk relied on a single logistical route running from the Ukrainian city of Sumy to the Russian town of Sudzha.
[PDF Version]