Activist groups in the Czech Republic and Slovakia are crowdfunding fiber-optic drones for Ukraine. The locally built drones, with 3D-printed airframes, are reverse-engineered copies of Russian fiber-optic drones recovered by the Ukrainians.
Fiber-optic drones have become significant on the battlefield in Ukraine, with the Russians first to use them. These drones are of the first-person-view (FPV) type, meaning that the drone streams live video from an onboard camera on the drone directly to the remote pilot’s view-goggles.
Most drones of this type are tactical and short-range, typically battery-powered, and are mainly quadcopters (four electric motors), sometimes more (six or eight motors). Until the advent of fiber-optic drones, most communication was via digital radio.
Such drones can be used for surveillance and target acquisition or as suicide drones with explosive devices configured for antipersonnel kills or for attacking hardened targets, especially armored vehicles, including tanks, trucks, artillery pieces, radars, command centers and other targets.
FPV drones have been used in the tens of thousands and have caused major changes on the battlefield. Shooting down or blocking drones is a major military challenge.
There have been various ways to try and interdict FPV drones, but perhaps the most effective have been radio frequency (RF) jammers. They can kill the signal from the drone to the drone operator so the pilot cannot see the target and the drone’s flight control system can be confused, forcing the drone to crash.
RF jamming, however, is not foolproof. Drone transceivers and modems have been engineered to resist jammers, or to switch to alternative frequencies, or use nearby relay drones. A significant drawback of jamming is that it can also block friendly RF signals, affecting the use of friendly drones and other RF-based communications.
Fiber-optic drones are 100% jam-resistant because they do not use RF signals. Nor do they need GPS because FPV drones are short-range, and a good pilot with a map overlay can find their way to the battle area, or the drone can be called in from the field using map coordinates.
Another feature of fiber-optic drones is much-improved image quality. An RF drone can typically send an image with a resolution of 720 pixels, which is decent as the drone approaches close to its target, but poor at a distance.
RF drones also introduce compression in the video signal, which can degrade the image. In addition, with swarms of drones, the RF signal has to share available bandwidth with other drones, which can degrade the signal and introduce delays.
A single RF FPV drone will have a lag in the signal of between 30 to 100 milliseconds (ms), but when it operates in conjunction with others, the delay is greater. A fiber-optic drone, by contrast, has a much higher bandwidth, typically in the 4K or 8K range and a lag of less than 1 ms. There is no interference with other drones because the drone is physically connected to the operator. The speed of communication is around 1 gigabyte.
There are a number of US companies who manufacture fiber-optic components, but the top ones are controlled under the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) export controls, meaning that individual licenses are required and exports are reviewed by the US State Department and consulting agencies, including the War Department, intelligence agencies and the Department of Commerce.
Consequently, fiber-optic reels and associated electronics are often supplied by China and are widely available without restriction. One of the main Chinese providers is Shenzhen Jingwei Technology, although their products are often rebranded. Even so, the Chinese parts are far less expensive than comparable American items, perform well enough for FPV battlefield drones and are easier and faster to acquire.
Fiber-optic fiber reels that automatically dispense fiber cable are available in different lengths. Obviously, the more fiber needed, the heavier the package. Some fiber reel dispensers are said to go up to 50 kilometers (31 miles), but the more typical ones on the battlefield are in the 20km (12.4 miles) range.
The Russian drone copied by the Czechs for Ukraine is the Prince Vandal Novgorosky (KVN) four-engine quadcopter fiber-optic drone with a claimed range of 65 km (40.3), but realistically less. It is produced by the Novgorod Scientific Production Center (Ushkuynik) at multiple locations.
The Czech version is produced by Czech volunteers and companies, notably SPARK. The Czech model is nicknamed Jan Zizka, a 15th-century Czech general, Hussite leader and military innovator from Trocnov, Bohemia. The nickname translated means “John One-Eye.” (Drones usually have one camera.)
The Czechs claim they make the key parts, the airframe, electronics and fiber spools. While it is likely the airframes are 3D printed, the other claims may not be entirely accurate and the presence of Chinese parts is almost certain.
The financing for the Czech drones comes from the “Gift for Putin” (Darek pro Putina) project, which is a high-profile Czech crowdfunding initiative launched in May 2022 to provide military equipment and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
To date, the Czechs and Slovaks have raised US$27.5 million through crowdfunding, the latest tranche of $6 million in 2026 to buy generators for Ukraine. As for drones, around 200 have been produced so far.
Spark (Spark Spolek, or Spark Association) is a volunteer organization and manufacturing collective that has gained international attention for its reverse-engineering approach to military technology.
Ukraine says it now has some 15 manufacturing centers for fiber-optic drones. Most of these are probably small shops, but they seem able to supply the Ukrainian army with a significant number of drones on a timely basis, although recently there have been complaints of shortages.
Neither the Russian, Ukrainian, nor even the Czech suppliers would be in business without China. Officially, China says it does not supply combat drones, but this is clearly misleading.
China supplies 80% to 90% of the world’s commercial drones and 70% to 90% of drone parts. China dominates global commerce in rare-earth magnets (vital for electric drone motors), lithium batteries and drone electronics.
Most drone cameras are made by the Chinese drone maker DJI. Observers speak of the Shenzhen Cluster in China, where one can find all the elements needed for drone manufacturing.
Even the US can’t block Chinese-made lithium batteries, motors, and drone cameras, and US export and import controls, including those of the US Department of War, have special regulatory loopholes that allow Chinese parts to be purchased and continue to proliferate in US military small-drone production. The Pentagon says it won’t use Chinese electronics, but otherwise it will approve motors, batteries and maybe cameras.
The same applies elsewhere. Until the US overcomes the rare-earth bottleneck (needed for magnets and batteries, for example), the only source for critical drone supplies is China. Even so, the Czech voluntary approach demonstrates that where there is a will, there is a way.
Stephen Bryen is a former US deputy undersecretary of defense and special correspondent at Asia Times. This article was first published on his newsletter Weapons and Strategy and is republished with permission.