RUSSIA, SARANSK, May 8 — In the early morning of May 7, attack drones hit the only Russian manufacturer of optical fiber cable that is also used for FPV-drones. The business belongs to the Optical Fiber Systems company and is located in Saransk, a city in the Russian Federation, said media Militarnyi, referring to the Astra Telegram channel.
“Drones with optical fiber are one of the enemy’s advantages at the frontline. The factory fully supplies Russian troops with optical fiber. Right now, it’s possible the factory will shut down,” said Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation.
After the attack, a fire broke out in the main building of the company and structures near the factory.
The facility has six production lines, which produce 2,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables daily, with a total daily output of 12,000 kilometers. The annual production is around 4 million kilometers of cable.
The “Optical Fiber Systems” company produces using Western equipment, including Austrian Nextrom and Chinese Vacree.
On April 5, drones attacked the facility for the first time, severely damaging it.
Like the usual first-person view drones (FVP), fiber-optic drones transmit images or video back to the “base” but use a thin optic wire connected to an operator’s controller to do so, making EW equipment inefficient — they cannot be jammed.
Various reports say Russia started using such drones in the east of Ukraine either in the summer or spring of 2024, responding to the rise in electronic warfare used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Gwara Media couldn’t independently confirm the news of the attack on the Saransk plant. Ukrainian officials did not comment on the Armed Forces’ involvement in the attack.
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