Ukrainian drone makers bring fiber spooling in-house as AI demand strains supplies

Fiber-optic drones can keep their control links working where radio jamming disrupts other aircraft. But their manufacturers face a different vulnerability: obtaining the fiber itself. In a November 10 Ars Technica interview, Ukraine’s BlueBird Tech described soaring prices amid AI infrastructure demand—and a shift toward winding imported fiber into drone spools domestically.

The account comes from Oleksiy, a BlueBird Tech research and development representative identified only by his first name for security reasons. His written responses describe a supply problem that combines global competition for material with wartime transport delays and the difficulty of producing reliable spools.

These drones maintain a physical connection to their operators as cable unwinds during flight. That avoids the radio-control link targeted by electronic warfare systems. Oleksiy cautioned that the aircraft still require different flying skills and specific pilot training. Radio-controlled drones remain the larger share of battlefield use, he said; fiber is an option for particular operations, not a universal replacement.

Drone makers buy into a much bigger market

Oleksiy said fiber prices had risen roughly six to ten times between 2025 and 2026. The hardest period for prices and shortages was around March, followed by some stabilization. He linked manufacturers’ exposure to a wider market in which data centers consume large amounts of fiber and AI infrastructure adds demand.

Market researcher TrendForce’s October 19 forecast provides context for that pressure. It estimated global demand at 577 million fiber-kilometers in 2026, with data-center construction accounting for roughly 18–20%. It forecast a supply shortfall of 180 million fiber-kilometers. Those are global market estimates, not a measurement of how much of BlueBird’s price increase AI demand caused.

Supply cannot quickly catch up, according to TrendForce. It put global factory capacity utilization at 92%, with inventories down to one month from four months in 2024. Expanding production of optical-fiber preforms—the material used to make fiber—typically takes 18–24 months, it said. The firm expects shortages to persist until at least 2028.

If a fiber-optic spool has a defect, you can lose the drone, lose the mission, and lose the target.

Oleksiy, BlueBird Tech R&D representative, speaking to Ars Technica

Control over the spool, not the source

Ukrainian manufacturers are responding by buying large spools of fiber and winding smaller, drone-ready spools themselves. Oleksiy said defects in finished Chinese spools helped drive the change. In-house winding lets manufacturers check quality during production and can make the finished spool somewhat cheaper than importing one. Quality, he stressed, is the main reason.

That approach is not available equally across the industry. Larger companies may have the winding equipment, trained staff and testing capabilities. Smaller manufacturers may instead buy finished spools from bigger Ukrainian producers or overseas suppliers. Oleksiy said there is no single production model across Ukrainian manufacturers.

Building those skills also consumes scarce material. Workers need practical experience, and early mistakes create defects. Training can require many kilometers of fiber, Oleksiy said. The cable is fragile: damage during winding or unwinding can break the connection. Better material quality also means more usable drone spools from each bulk spool purchased.

Domestic winding does not remove dependence on China for the fiber itself, even when buyers use intermediaries elsewhere. Nor does it eliminate delivery problems. Oleksiy described a long, costly transport route, followed by customs clearance and onward shipping inside Ukraine. Air raid alerts can interrupt those operations, making production schedules dependent on logistics as well as manufacturing capacity.