Ukrainian company 3DTech, which specializes in producing various types of FPV drones, notified for Defense Express that their new 25 km and 30 km fiber-optic coils have successfully passed internal testing and are now in full-scale production. Trials for codification and approval for use by the Armed Forces are scheduled for early May.
According to the company, this is the first serially produced 30-kilometer coil in Ukraine. CEO of 3DTech, Oleksii Zhulynskyi, also noted that the entire production and winding process of the coils is fully localized in Ukraine, with only raw materials being imported.
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The representative of 3DTech added that Chinese-made coils often suffer from factory defects that are difficult to detect. Producing and winding the coils domestically in Ukraine allows the company to control quality at every stage, which greatly reduces the risk of breakage during use in combat conditions.
At the moment, fiber-optic drones are gaining popularity in Ukraine, but most available models have a range of no more than 20 km. However, situation on the battlefield requires much greater distances. That’s why the new coils developed by 3DTech engineers in recent months are meant to solve this problem.
Additionally, 3DTech reported that all five versions of their “Khizhak REBOFF” fiber-optic FPV drones (with a range of 10–20 km and frame sizes between 10–13 inches) successfully passed codification tests back in January. These drones have recently received official codes.
Furthermore, in relation to long-range fiber-optic FPV drones, we should also mention the drones used by “Ptakhi Madyara” (“Magyar’s Birds” in English, the nick name of the 414th Strike UAV Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine under command of Robert Brovdi who has the pseudonym "Magyar"), one of which reportedly has a 41 km range — likely using imported coils. That project is expected to reach a production rate of 1,000 units per month.
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