3 ms·

What's the cost of a 10 mile fiber optic cable, relative to the RF drone jammer it defeats, or the $5K drone it defends?

rasz 2y ago
Hundreds of dollars aka insignificant.
- walterbell 2y ago
  That's a good price. Web search found Corning SMF-28e+ single mode optical fiber [1], retail price ~$1500 USD [2] for 10 miles. [1] https://www.corning.com/optical-communications/worldwide/en/home/products/fiber/optical-fiber-products/smf-28e-.html https://www.corning.com/optical-communications/worldwide/en/... [2] https://www.fiberinthebox.com/p/21683/corning-smf-28e-100kpsi-9-125-250%CE%BCm-os2-single-mode-fiber-g-652-optical-fiber-product https://www.fiberinthebox.com/p/21683/corning-smf-28e-100kps...
  - jiggawatts 2y ago
    Multi mode is cheaper and perfectly fine for these low data rates
    - jandrese 2y ago
      Multi-mode would be heavier and bulkier. For the drone every gram saved on the spool is another gram you can add to the explosive. The article does talk about these drones having relatively small payloads due to the weight of the spool. I briefly thought about having the drones spool out a pair of thin copper wires instead and having very high voltage running through the wires so the drone didn't have to carry a battery, but realized this would be wildly impractical as the resistance of the wire would kill the voltage and they would constantly be touching each other in the wind or sagging down to the ground and shorting out.
mey 2y ago
Perun (unsurprisingly) did a video on the drone's evolution in Ukraine, including countermeasures and counter counter measures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJnuTtUFiWM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJnuTtUFiWM Drones are highly variable.
lupusreal 2y ago
That's the wrong way of looking at it. At least, you need to consider the value of the targets this new system can destroy that the old ones wouldn't be able to.
romwell 2y ago
>What's the cost of a 10 mile fiber optic cable, relative to the RF drone jammer it defeats, or the $5K drone it defends? Far less than the cost of the target it destroys, or the life of a trained soldier it kills.
idunnoman1222 2y ago
Rf jammers don’t work, too hard to chase an evasive signal
zh3 2y ago
About $1k off the shelf (depending on volume).It likely needs a jacket though. https://www.i-fiberoptics.com/asahi-optical-fiber-detail.php?id=3631&sum=168 https://www.i-fiberoptics.com/asahi-optical-fiber-detail.php...

rasz 2y ago

Hundreds of dollars aka insignificant.

walterbell 2y ago
That's a good price. Web search found Corning SMF-28e+ single mode optical fiber [1], retail price ~$1500 USD [2] for 10 miles. [1] https://www.corning.com/optical-communications/worldwide/en/home/products/fiber/optical-fiber-products/smf-28e-.html https://www.corning.com/optical-communications/worldwide/en/... [2] https://www.fiberinthebox.com/p/21683/corning-smf-28e-100kpsi-9-125-250%CE%BCm-os2-single-mode-fiber-g-652-optical-fiber-product https://www.fiberinthebox.com/p/21683/corning-smf-28e-100kps...
- jiggawatts 2y ago
  Multi mode is cheaper and perfectly fine for these low data rates
  - jandrese 2y ago
    Multi-mode would be heavier and bulkier. For the drone every gram saved on the spool is another gram you can add to the explosive. The article does talk about these drones having relatively small payloads due to the weight of the spool. I briefly thought about having the drones spool out a pair of thin copper wires instead and having very high voltage running through the wires so the drone didn't have to carry a battery, but realized this would be wildly impractical as the resistance of the wire would kill the voltage and they would constantly be touching each other in the wind or sagging down to the ground and shorting out.

mey 2y ago

Perun (unsurprisingly) did a video on the drone's evolution in Ukraine, including countermeasures and counter counter measures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJnuTtUFiWM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJnuTtUFiWM Drones are highly variable.

lupusreal 2y ago

That's the wrong way of looking at it. At least, you need to consider the value of the targets this new system can destroy that the old ones wouldn't be able to.

romwell 2y ago

>What's the cost of a 10 mile fiber optic cable, relative to the RF drone jammer it defeats, or the $5K drone it defends? Far less than the cost of the target it destroys, or the life of a trained soldier it kills.

idunnoman1222 2y ago

Rf jammers don’t work, too hard to chase an evasive signal

zh3 2y ago

About $1k off the shelf (depending on volume).It likely needs a jacket though. https://www.i-fiberoptics.com/asahi-optical-fiber-detail.php?id=3631&sum=168 https://www.i-fiberoptics.com/asahi-optical-fiber-detail.php...