Drones with a Wire: Crowdfunded Copies Aid Ukraine

Activist groups in the Czech Republic and Slovakia are raising public money to build specialized drones for Ukraine. These drones are unique because they are controlled through a fiber-optic cable. The drones are reverse-engineered copies of Russian models. Ukrainian forces recovered the original drones on the battlefield. Russian forces were the first to use this technology in the war. Local engineers construct the drones using 3D-printed airframes. They are known as First-Person-View (FPV) drones. A fiber-optic tether gives them a key advantage: their control signal cannot be jammed by electronic warfare systems. This makes them highly reliable for reconnaissance and attacks. The crowdfunding initiative allows the public to directly support Ukraine's defense with this emerging technology.