Czech volunteers have developed and launched into mass production a new type of kamikaze drone that uses a thin optical fiber line to communicate with the operator. This technology makes the device completely protected from any electronic warfare (EW) means and allows it to effectively destroy targets even in areas of dense signal jamming. This was reported by journalists from iDNES.cz, writes UNN.
Details
The idea for the drone came after soldiers of the 102nd Territorial Defense Brigade of Ukraine managed to capture a Russian drone called "Knyaz Novgorodsky." The trophy was delivered to Prague, where a team of engineers from "Spark spolku" disassembled it down to the last screw. The goal was to create an analogue that would help Ukrainian defenders fight the enemy with their own methods.
The head of the association, Lesya Kopchuk, noted that the trophy became a real "gift from heaven," as it allowed them to quickly understand the principle of operation of the fiber optic coil. The new Czech drone was named "Jan Žižka" in honor of the legendary Hussite commander.
Unlike previous developments, this drone is a third cheaper to produce due to the use of local components: a Czech-made fiberglass frame and parts printed on 3D printers.
Technical advantages and scaling of production
The main feature of "Jan Žižka" is a coil with a 25-kilometer long optical fiber. This allows the drone to fly low to the ground, maneuver between trees, and even lie in ambush, waiting for the appearance of enemy armored vehicles. Since control is carried out via a cable, the drone does not emit radio signals, so it cannot be located or stopped by an anti-drone rifle.
Currently, the "Gift for Putin" (Dárek pro Putina) initiative is actively raising funds to scale up the project. The first two hundred units have already been produced, and a collection of 15 million crowns will allow the production of about five hundred more drones. The coordinator of the initiative, Martin Ondráček, emphasized that funds for aid to Ukraine are steadily coming from Czech citizens who understand the critical importance of modern technologies at the front.