Fiber optic cable reels from China often have defects, which leads to cable breakage during drone flight.
This was stated by Oleksii Zhulinsky, CEO of 3DTech, a drone manufacturer and a veteran of the Azov Special Forces, in a commentary to Ukrinform.
“At one time we used Chinese fiber optic coils, then we set up production and began to wind our own. The split of drones was about 50/50. And recently, we have started returning drones with Chinese coils, which are partially defective,” Zhulinsky said.
According to him, it is impossible to detect defects before shipment – the coils look normal visually, and the measurements are also normal. The coils may contain small cable refractions inside the coil, which can cause the cable to break in flight and the drone to miss its target.
“That’s why we have recalled all batches with Chinese coils and are replacing them with those we produced ourselves,” Zhulinsky explained.
According to the company’s CEO, fiber optics are not produced in Ukraine, and it is impossible to agree on supplies with manufacturers from several other countries. There is virtually no alternative to the Chinese market – about 80% of the world’s fiber optic production is in China. Ukrainian manufacturers also buy most of their drone components from China.
“That is, we are very dependent on the Chinese. 80% of components for drones are still purchased in China. Of course, some European and Ukrainian companies have already started producing, but they cannot cover even 50% of the demand for components,” said the Azov SSO veteran.
According to Zhulinsky, it is dangerous to buy cable reels for drones in China because of the risk of sabotage.
“If there is some kind of sabotage, the entire shipment will be down the drain. The drone will fly, the signal will be received, but there will be interruptions. And it is very easy to organize a sabotage, and we cannot rule out the possibility that there will be Russian agents interested in this,” he explained.
According to the UAV manufacturer, if you buy large coils of fiber optic cable and wind the coils in Ukraine, the risks are much lower.
“During this process, you can check the quality of the cable itself, and not use a bad one,” Zhulinsky said.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, Yuriy Fedorenko, commander of the 429th separate regiment of Achilles unmanned systems, expects the supply of fiber-optic drones to the Defense Forces, paid for by the state, to improve by the end of the summer.
Photo: 3DTech LLC
Source: Manufacturer: Defective Chinese fiber optic spools impact drone performance
