The Armed Forces of Ukraine has tested hybrid control for an FPV UAV combining a fibre optic cable and an RF link to improve redundancy by simultaneous use.
To combat environmental restrictions on fibre optic cable use and jamming risks on the RF control link, Ukrainian soldiers have coupled both control methods in a redundant package, as reported by Militarnyi.
Tetyana Chornovol, serving in the Ukrainian military, shared the test of the new control system.
According to Chornovol, while fibre optic cables offer jamming resistance due to the hard-wired control link, they are also susceptible to breaking from obstacles or looping, the latter causing degradations in input and return. Additionally, the cable might not be sufficient in terms of length in some cases.
On the other hand, RF control links are obviously susceptible to jamming but are not bound by small obstacles that can damage or degrade the cables. While Ukraine is adopting high-frequency control links to keep jammers out of reach, this is a temporary measure considering how rapid the measure-countermeasure exchanges are between Ukraine and Russia.
Thus, Chornovol’s platoon has coupled both control methods so that one can keep the FPV operational in case the other is compromised. While this was a local initiative at first, authorities in Ukraine have recently agreed to the implementation of the idea in 10" and 13" class FPVs.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor:Özgür Ekşi
