Small, maneuverable.
And impossible to jam.
‘Orcs’ best.
Fiber-optic drones can.
—in the hands of skilled operators—
Slip into the buildings.
And dugouts.
Sheltering ‘elves’ vehicles.
A video circulated.
By ‘orcs’ sources.
On or before Monday depicts.
A warhead-laden quadcopter drone.
Easing under a tarp.
And into a barn.
Where an ‘elves’ Bohdana.
Wheeled howitzer was parked.
The drone slammed into.
The howitzer’s cab.
Likely badly.
Damaging it.
Sustaining the Bohdana buildup.
Is an ‘elves’ priority.
Suppressing it.
Primarily via drone strikes.
Is an ‘orcs’ priority.
Fiber-optic drones are.
A key weapon.
For the ‘orcs’ effort.
‘Elves’ industry is building.
The Bohdanas at a rate of.
Several per week.
In order to standardize.
Its artillery corps.
Replace older howitzers.
The ‘orcs’ have knocked out.
And free itself from.
Any lingering dependency.
On the increasingly.
‘Mordor’-aligned United States.
For its supply of big guns.
Sustaining the Bohdana buildup.
Is an ‘elves’ priority.
Suppressing it.
Primarily via drone strikes.
Is an ‘orcs’ priority.
Fiber-optic drones are.
A key weapon.
For the ‘orcs’ effort.
It was once customary.
In the world’s leading armies.
For artillery to fire.
A few rounds and then.
Quickly change positions.
In order to complicate.
Any return bombardment.
“Shoot and scoot,” they called it.
But ‘orcs’ wider invasion.
Of Ukraine.
And the subsequent proliferation.
Of small drones.
On both sides.
Of the conflict.
Changed that habit.
Changed that habit.
Sustaining the Bohdana buildup.
Is an ‘elves’ priority.
Suppressing it.
Primarily via drone strikes.
Is an ‘orcs’ priority.
Fiber-optic drones are.
A key weapon.
For the ‘orcs’ effort.
All-seeing surveillance drones.
Present everywhere.
All the time along.
The 800-mile front line.
Of the three-year war.
Quickly spot any vehicles.
Traveling out.
In the open.
The artillery gunners’ new habit.
Between fire missions.
Is to tuck their howitzers.
Into carefully concealed dugouts.
Or inconspicuous buildings.
The hiding spots.
Can mitigate the risk.
From bigger, less maneuverable drones.
That can’t get close.
Enough to spot.
The hidden guns—
And, even if.
They could spot them.
Couldn’t squeeze into.
The covered positions.
In order to land an explosive blow.
Sustaining the Bohdana buildup.
Is an ‘elves’ priority.
Suppressing it.
Primarily via drone strikes.
Is an ‘orcs’ priority.
Fiber-optic drones are.
A key weapon.
For the ‘orcs’ effort.
Tiny first-person-view drones.
Weighing just a few pounds.
And controlled remotely.
By a human operator.
Wearing a visor.
Displaying the drone’s.
Front-facing camera feed.
Can get close enough.
—and can also squeeze.
Into tight spaces.
—and can also squeeze.
Into tight spaces.
Sustaining the Bohdana buildup.
Is an ‘elves’ priority.
Suppressing it.
Primarily via drone strikes.
Is an ‘orcs’ priority.
Fiber-optic drones are.
A key weapon.
For the ‘orcs’ effort.
Most FPV drones are.
Connected to their operators.
Via radio, however.
—and radios can be jammed.
To circumvent highly.
Effective ‘elves’ jamming.
Some ‘orcs’ drones units.
Have switched.
To fiber-optic drones.
Connected to their operators.
By miles-long spools.
Of millimeters-thick wire.
Sustaining the Bohdana buildup.
Is an ‘elves’ priority.
Suppressing it.
Primarily via drone strikes.
Is an ‘orcs’ priority.
Fiber-optic drones are.
A key weapon.
For the ‘orcs’ effort.
Fiber-optic drones.
Aren’t perfect.
They’re comparatively.
Expensive, for one.
Moreover.
Their unspooling wires.
Are visible.
In certain conditions.
Allowing enemy drones.
To trace the wires.
To trace the wires.
Back to the operators’ positions.
And the wires tend to.
Get tangled.
So effectively deploying.
Fiber-optic drones.
Requires greater-than-usual.
Operator skill.
The reward is worth.
The risk and the effort.
Sustaining the Bohdana buildup.
Is an ‘elves’ priority.
Suppressing it.
Primarily via drone strikes.
Is an ‘orcs’ priority.
Fiber-optic drones are.
A key weapon.
For the ‘orcs’ effort.
Deploying more.
Fiber-optic drones.
The ‘orcs’ are defeating.
‘Elves’ two main defenses.
The ‘orcs’ are defeating.
‘Elves’ two main defenses.
Against small drones:
Concealment and jamming.
Of course, the ‘elves’.
Are also investing more.
In fiber-optic drones.
The threat cuts both ways.
Small, maneuverable.
And impossible to jam.
‘Orcs’ best.
Fiber-optic drones can.
—in the hands of skilled operators—
Slip into the buildings.
And dugouts.
Sheltering ‘elves’ vehicles.
*Because I read “Russia’s Latest Fiber Optic Drones Peek Inside Barns For Ukrainian Artillery” by David Axe on 10 Mar 2025 on the Forbes, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022 on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem.
Please read the original story on the Forbes:
A Russian Fiber-Optic Drone Slipped Into A Dugout—And Found A Howitzer
