Latest news with #FPVs
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine, NATO eye tech trials for intercepting Russia's cabled drones
MILAN — NATO and Ukrainian officials are slated to stage a trial of unmanned aerial vehicle technologies aimed at addressing a dogged threat: Russian first-person-view drones with fiber-optic cables that cannot be brought down with electronic interference. An event organized by the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training, and Education Center and NATO's Allied Command Transformation will be held on June 20 in Tallinn, Estonia, to demonstrate new countermeasures that have been percolating among defense firms. The envisioned countermeasures are required to have a detection range of at least 500 meters, be able to operate during the day and at night, weigh under 100 kilograms, and not exceed an overall cost of $100,000. FPV drones operating via fiber-optic cables are a new military challenge globally, as they are largely immune to jamming and interception attempts. These cheap and small weapons relay signals through a thin cable, which makes them resistant to eletro-magnetic interference. Drones were a key part of Ukraine's largest long-range attack since the onset of the war carried out on June 1, where the smuggled weapons were used to target and strike Russian warplanes and strategic sites. The appearance of command-wire drones has opened yet another chapter in the cat-and-mouse game of innovations and countermeasures in drone warfare on both sides, said Federico Borsari, resident fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis. 'From a technical standpoint, Russia and Ukraine are now trying to push the limits of the usual tradeoff between range, speed, payload and endurance by introducing more powerful batteries to increase their capabilities and longer fiber-optic spools,' he said. He added that longer cables are useful in carrying out attacks and ambush tactics against enemy logistics where the FPVs lie dormant near roads and are activated by an operator when a convoy passes nearby. Ukrainian troops have so far favored an FPV-tracking tactic by spotting the reflective fibers spooling out behind the drones, which were easiest to find in bright sunlight, and then tracing them back to Russian operators. In one documented instance, one of the drone units of the Ukrainian National Guard Kara Dag Brigade struck a Russian base during the winter months by following a maze of fibre optics back to the hideout. However, as the use of fiber-optic FPVs has exploded, old cables are now littering parts of the battlefield, creating mazes that are almost impossible trace to their launch points. Borsari said Ukraine has also experimented with active countermeasures, including using drone interceptors and quadcopters to destroy FPVs mid-flight or when they are on the ground by dropping small bomblets on them. 'Currently, the best defense relies on a combination of passive and active countermeasures and should also incorporate robust signal intelligence and other forms of intel-gathering techniques to intercept Russian communications and locate their drone teams,' he said.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
No ‘silver bullet' against a drone attack like Operation Spider's Web
Ukraine's audacious drone strike on Sunday that may have destroyed several Russian strategic bombers has confirmed long-held fears about first-person view drones, or FPVs, being launched from commercial containers for a surprise attack. Videos purportedly show the Ukrainian drones being launched from trucks parked near their targets thousands of miles inside Russia. Dubbed Operation Spider's Web, the attack was 18 months in the making and involved 117 Ukrainian drones launched against four airfields. Ukraine's intelligence service claims the FPVs were smuggled into Russia, where they were hidden in the roofs of wooden sheds, which were placed on trucks. Then the trucks were driven near the Russian airfields and the drones were launched remotely. Ukraine's attack has revealed that military installations far from the front lines can still be vulnerable to drone attacks. It also comes as the U.S. military struggles to prevent drone incursions at its bases. In 2024 alone, there were hundreds of incidents involving drones flying over military bases within the continental United States and Alaska, Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, head of U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, said in February. 'There were 350 detections reported last year on military installations, and that was 350 over a total of 100 different installations of all types and levels of security,' Guillot told the Senate Armed Services Committee. It's possible for an adversary to launch drones against military installations in the United States in the same way that Ukraine attacked Russian bases, said Masao Dahlgren, who writes about missile defense for the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, D.C. 'That's an assumption that we are far from the adversary, we have oceans separating us, that we're somehow far away from these threats,' Dahlgren told Task & Purpose. 'But as these kinds of incidents show, that threat is not as far as we would like to think.' Despite the urgent need, the U.S. military has not yet invested enough in low-altitude drone defenses to protect its bases at home from an attack by FPV drones, Dahlgren said. For the most part, military installations, cities, and critical infrastructure within the United States are not protected by weapon systems designed to destroy drones, such as the Low, Slow, Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System, or LIDS, Dahlgren said. The U.S. military typically deploys those types of weapons overseas because it remains focused on defeating enemy air forces instead of protecting against drone attacks launched from concealed locations. Right now, stateside military bases may be equipped with jammers and other 'soft kill' methods to stop drones, but the Defense Department needs to rapidly field more drone defenses to protect the United States as a whole, Dahlgren said. The U.S. military needs to use both aircraft and balloons equipped with sensors to counter drones because the radars that monitor U.S. airspace are not ideal for detecting low-altitude threats, as evidenced when a man managed to land a gyrocopter in front of the Capitol building in 2015, Dahlgren said. Ukraine's domestic security agency, the SBU, acknowledged that it carried out the operation, codenamed 'Spider's Web' and said it had caused considerable damage, estimated at $7 billion — Reuters (@Reuters) June 2, 2025 'The No. 1 problem in my mind is sensors,' Dahlgren said. 'These targets fly low, and if your radar, your sensor, is on the ground, you're not going to see them come over the horizon. They literally can fly under the radar until they're quite close.' In recent years, the U.S. military has been preparing to defend against small unnamed aerial systems. For example, the Army has updated the capstone event of basic training to teach soldiers how to conceal themselves from drones. While certain stateside military installations, such as nuclear missile bases, are well protected, service members at other bases wouldn't be able to do much to respond to the type of surprise drone attack that was planned over many months, like Operation Spider's Web, a former senior Defense Department official told Task & Purpose. Task & Purpose asked each of the military branches about Operation Spider's Web — specifically focusing on what countermeasures or steps could be taken to prevent a similar strike against U.S. bases at home and abroad. 'The U.S. Army actively monitors all modern warfare developments, including the recent drone attacks reported in Russia over the weekend,' said Army spokesperson Maj. Montrell Russell. 'Our primary focus is protecting our homeland, personnel, and critical assets. We regularly update our training and defensive measures to address evolving threats from unmanned aerial systems. While specific tactics cannot be disclosed for security reasons, the Army is committed to ensuring our forces are prepared for current and emerging challenges.' The Marine Corps has already fielded several systems to its installations that are designed to track, identify and defeat small drones as part of its preparations to defend airfields and other critical infrastructure against drone attacks, said Lt. Col. Eric Flanagan, a spokesman for Combat Development and Integration. Other drone countermeasures include the vehicle-mounted Marine Air Defense Integrated System, or MADIS, Flanagan said. The Marine Corps is also developing a Light-MADIS, or L-MADIS, for Ultra-Light Tactical Vehicles. The Marines also announced earlier this year that deploying units would be equipped with prototype systems meant to counter small drones. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said on Tuesday that the service has budgeted money to add protections to its bases, but he added that the service needs to do more. 'We could really make it very defensible, but if all we're doing is playing defense and we can't shoot back, then that's not a use for our money,' Allvin said while speaking at a conference held by the Center for a New American Security think tank in Washington, D.C. Allvin also said the Air Force needs to think about the offensive potential of small drones, noting that Operation Spider's Web has shown that 'seemingly impenetrable locations need to pay more attention to that.' Officials with the Navy deferred questions on the matter to NORTHCOM. A NORTHCOM spokesperson described the threat that small unmanned aircraft pose to military and civilian infrastructure as 'serious and growing.' The command has fielded mobile systems to help detect and neutralize drones; bolstered drone defenses at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, and Fort Bliss, Texas; and it continues to test new technologies, such as at the Desert Peak exercise this April at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, as part of the U.S. military's ongoing mission along the southern border. Russian investigators have questioned the drivers of the trucks from which drones were launched during a large-scale attack on military targets. From Russian media:'One of the drivers, a 55-year-old man from Chelyabinsk named Alexander Z., said that the truck belonged to a… — Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) June 2, 2025 'We remain clear-eyed about the need to further increase our collective ability to defend installations and infrastructure against an increasing range of potential threats,' the spokesperson said. Ultimately, there is no 'silver bullet' to the threat posed by drones, said retired Army Maj. Gen. Wilson A. Shoffner, former commanding general of the Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The threat posed by drones requires a response from the entire government, including the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Federal Aviation Administration, and local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, Shoffner told Task & Purpose. Drones come in many different shapes and sizes, each with its own physical and electronic signature, Shoffner said. They also use a variety of methods to navigate, requiring different types of defenses. Some drones, for example, are guided by fiber optic cables, making them difficult to counter using electronic means. 'What we want are multiple lines of defense,' Shoffner said. 'We want to intercept the threat as far out as possible and as soon as possible.' The threat posed by small drones is so serious that it could change how the U.S. military approaches air defense, Dahlgren said. 'We used to consider air defense its own specialty in the armed forces,' Dahlgren said. 'You'd have like — you're an air defender. But now everyone has to be. So, there's going to be a lot of change in the pipeline, I hope.' One way of getting that sort of expertise into the 'pipeline' could be to have training that requires U.S. troops to identify and defeat short-range quad-copters through a combination of signals intelligence, electronic warfare and weapons that can destroy small drones, said Samuel Bendett, a drone expert. Ukraine's attack on Russia also shows what can happen when aircraft are not parked in protected hangars, and are then vulnerable to attacks from small drones, said Bendett, an advisor to the Russia Studies Program at CNA as a Washington DC-based not-for-profit research and analysis organization. 'This attack is probably a wake-up call for many militaries that station their long-range heavy aircraft on the open tarmac across their bases,' Bendett told Task & Purpose. 'Russian mil bloggers also pointed out that they called out the MOD [ministry of defense] for failing to keep such strategic planes in hangars, or under, even with rudimentary physical protection.' Navy SEAL Team 6 operator will be the military's new top enlisted leader Veterans receiving disability payments might have been underpaid, IG finds Guam barracks conditions are 'baffling,' Navy admiral says in email Navy fires admiral in charge of unmanned systems office after investigation The Pentagon wants troops to change duty stations less often
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Drones took off from uncrewed surface vessels: details of nighttime attack on Crimea revealed
A large-scale drone attack took place in occupied Crimea on the night of 1-2 May, targeting military sites, particularly airfields housing tactical aircraft. Source: Serhii Bratchuk, spokesman for the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, on the national joint 24/7 newscast Details: Bratchuk stated that the attack had utilised a particular method: uncrewed surface vessels acted as "carrier platforms" for first-person view drones (FPVs), which were launched from them to carry out precision strikes on ground-based targets. Quote from Bratchuk: "The sham 'governor' of Sevastopol, Razvozhayev, has acknowledged that the attack took place. He's talking about Ukraine's use of naval drones. Accordingly, naval drones have become 'carriers' for our other 'mosquitoes' – FPVs, which take off from them and strike military targets in Crimea... in addition, it was loud where the airfields from which enemy tactical aircraft take off and sites such as Hvardiiske, where a missile brigade is located." Background: On the morning of 2 May, Russia's Defence Ministry reported a large-scale drone attack on Crimea, claiming that its air defence units had destroyed 121 "Ukrainian drones" over the occupied peninsula and several Russian regions. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Times of Oman
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Times of Oman
Zelenskyy proposes 30-day halt on airstrikes targeting civilian infrastructure
Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday (local time) proposed a 30-day pause on long-range drone and missile strikes on civilian infrastructure, noting that no air strikes were conducted by the Russian military during the Easter ceasefire despite committing over 2,000 other violations. Accusing Russia of continuing its ground offensive despite declaring a ceasefire on Easter, Zelenskyy expressed optimism on a pause in air strikes and said that this format is "easiest to extend." "Since the beginning of the day, the Russian army has violated Putin's ceasefire more than two thousand times," Zelenskyy wrote on X. "However, there were no air raid alerts today. Hence, this is a format of ceasefire that has been achieved and that is the easiest to extend. Ukraine proposes to cease any strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for a period of at least 30 days, with the possibility of extension," he added. Zelanskyy said that if Russia rejects this step, then its only intentions are to "destroy human lives and prolong the war." "If Russia does not agree to such a step, it will be proof that it intends to continue doing only those things which destroy human lives and prolong the war," he said. Additionally, Zelenskyy listed out the alleged 2,000 instances of violence, noting that 1,355 cases of Russian shelling, 67 cases of assault and use of FPVs (first-person view). "There have already been 67 Russian assaults against our positions across various directions, with the highest number in the Pokrovsk direction. There were a total of 1,355 cases of Russian shelling, 713 of which involved heavy weaponry. The Russians also used FPVs 673 times," Zelenskyy said. Earlier, both sides accused each other of violating the ceasefire. Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) accused Ukrainian troops of hitting Russian positions with guns and mortars 444 times. The MFA wrote on X, "Russia's MoD: During the night of the #EasterCeasefire, the kiev regime launched 48 fixed-wing UAVs, including one over Crimea. Ukrainian troops hit Russian positions with guns and mortars 444 times, carried out 900 quadcopter-type drone strikes," the Russian MFA said in a post on X. Zelenskyy reiterated that Russian forces had in fact intensified their attacks on Easter Day, despite President Vladimir Putin's announcement of a 30-hour ceasefire in observance of Easter. This was the second ceasefire to be announced since the conflict began in 2022. The previous attempt, during Orthodox Christmas in January 2023, also failed after both sides were unable to agree on a proposal.
Forbes
09-04-2025
- Forbes
Flying Aircraft Carriers: Ukraine Refines FPV Mothership Tactics
A fixed wing carrier with six FPV drones recently shown by UNITED24 Ukraine is fielding carrier drones or motherships to transport FPVs to the target area before launching them. Russian forces reported these as far back as November 2023, and last month Russian news agency TASS stated that Ukraine was carrying out FPV attacks 25 miles or more behind the lines in seven regions suggesting that use is becoming widespread. The commander of the Typhoon drone unit of the National Guard of Ukraine, who goes by the callsign 'Michael', told me that carrier operations are very much a matter of ongoing development. 'It's a combination of using existing technologies and continuously refining them based on operational feedback,' says Michael. 'It's about optimizing what we already have while layering in new enhancements where needed.' There are parallels with the learning curve on traditional floating aircraft carriers. The Chinese Navy officially commissioned its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, in 2012. It took four years of trials and training -- and a number of accidents – before it was declared combat ready four years later. The Chinese already had a navy and air force, but flying aircraft from ships required a whole new skill set for both. New military operations take practice to perfect, and learning under field conditions is harder. While a single FPV strike may be simple, a carrier with one or more FPVs is different and expensive. The carrier remains in the area to act as a flying radio relay for the FPV and Michael says they would not fly a reusable carrier drone against a low value target. 'If something goes wrong, we risk losing not just the FPV, but the entire system,' says Michael Ukraine has displayed drone carriers include both fixed wing and multi-rotor types, carrying one, two, four or six FPVs. More might look better, but it brings complications. 'If we're using analog video transmission, for example, each drone must operate on a different frequency to avoid signal interference,' says Michael, 'Managing multiple video feeds, control links, and power systems adds significant complexity, especially under field conditions. It requires precise coordination and a reliable communication infrastructure to ensure everything works smoothly in practice.' FPV drone on fixed wing aircraft type mothership So something like the carrier with a single drone supplied to Birds of Magyar may be preferable to a bigger carrier. The choice between fixed wing or rotary carrier also involves tradeoffs. 'When it comes to rotary-wing carrier drones, the main disadvantage is their relatively low operational altitude — typically around 300–400 meters,' says Michael. 'At this height, they are vulnerable to a wide range of threats including small arms fire, other drones, and electronic warfare such as jamming.' Russia routinely flies interceptor drones against Ukrainian multicopter Baba Yaga night bombers, and a rotary drone carrier would be a prime target. 'Fixed-wing carrier drones, on the other hand, operate at much higher altitudes,' says Michael, which some threats but increases others. 'At these altitudes, they become more visible to enemy radar and are more likely to be targeted by anti-aircraft systems.' Either way, carrier missions must be carefully planned around the locations of Russian air defenses. 'In many combat zones, the airspace is protected by a mix of electronic warfare tools and radar systems,' says Michael. 'Successful use of such systems requires detailed intelligence to identify gaps in enemy air defense coverage.' Michael says his Typhoon unit is starting to focus on one particular attack mode for carriers. Multicopter drone carrier with FPV 'From our perspective, the most promising use case at the moment is integrating a 'lock-on-target' feature, which would allow for more autonomous and precise deployment of FPV drones from the carrier platform,' says Michael. In this approach the carrier become more like a weapons platform, and the FPVs are more like guided missiles than independent aircraft. Michael previously described his units' work with automated target lock systems for FPVs. These bypass short-range jammers and are a limited but useful way of assisting human pilots. 'Implementing this capability requires additional technical development and system integration, so it's still a work in progress,' says Michael. There are real benefits in prospect though. Apart from extending range, carrier drones eliminate problems like radio shadow can shorten the time between detecting a target and engaging it. They also open up the possibility of multiple coordinated strikes against long-range targets. Meanwhile, interceptor operators are reportedly using drone carriers to get FPVs into action rapidly against high-altitude targets. A carrier can patrol at altitude and the FPVs are only launched when needed. These are very much the early days of drone carriers. In future we may motherships carrying a mixed load of reconnaissance and attack drones, carriers delivering drones which land and carry out ambush attacks, and carriers with unjammable fiber-guided FPVs. But while they have potential, Michael remains agnostic about whether carrier drones will become more than a special-purpose tool. 'Whether carrier drones become more common in the future largely depends on the operational environment and mission objectives,' says Michael. But he notes that the extended range is a powerful benefit. A site within range of drone strikes is no longer safe, and the enemy will need to relocate ammunition dumps, fuel storage, repair shops and other facilities several miles further back, not to mention artillery and air defense assets – until longer-range carriers move the red line even further. Simply possessing FPV carriers makes the enemy's life more difficult, even if they are rarely used. 'Even if a mission is not cost-effective in purely tactical terms, the psychological impact of a successful carrier drone strike — especially deep behind enemy lines — can be significant,' says Michael.
