Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said that a prototype of analog ground control stations, developed based on unified technical requirements, will be handed over to military units this week for combat testing.
“The Ministry of Defense has established unified technical requirements for analog ground stations for fiber-optic drones, and we now have a prototype that is as close as possible to serial production. This week we are transferring the stations to units for combat testing,” he wrote on Telegram on Monday.
Fedorov explained that fiber-optic drones are currently one of the key means of striking the enemy. They operate under electronic warfare (EW) conditions and help destroy targets at distances where other solutions lose effectiveness.
“However, for every operator working with fiber-optic drones, there is a problem—the ‘zoo’ of different ground control stations used to launch UAVs. On the front line, dozens of different solutions from various manufacturers are used simultaneously,” Fedorov noted.
According to him, because of this, operators are often forced to carry 3–5 different systems when moving into positions. This creates additional burden and reduces the time available for completing combat missions. Advisor on UAV efficiency Serhii Sternenko has been working for several months with manufacturers to address this issue. This is one of his projects within the Ministry of Defense.
“Today there are two types of ground stations for fiber-optic drones—analog and digital. The most widespread are analog systems, and they currently form the backbone of unit operations,” Fedorov emphasized.
“Our goal is to create a single standardized ground station that replaces several different systems and removes unnecessary complexity in unit operations. Following the President’s task, we are destroying the enemy across all domains: on land, in the air, and in the economy. To do this, we are systematically removing barriers and providing the military with tools that deliver results,” the Defense Minister concluded.
