Ghosts on a Wire: The Rise of Fibre-Optic Controlled Combat Drones in Modern Warfare

In the high-stakes theatre of twenty-first-century warfare, few innovations have shifted the strategic and tactical landscape as profoundly as the combat drone. While most attention has centred on wireless communication and autonomous systems, a quieter technological evolution is taking place: the deployment of combat drones tethered by fibre-optic cables. Though less glamorous than their long-range satellite-linked counterparts, these wired drones—nicknamed “ghosts on a wire” by some operators—