[myfonj]

Sorry if I've misunderstood sarcasm and taken your comment at face value, but are you really unaware of current developments? There are fields literally covered with thick webs of optical fibre near front lines. "Fibre optic drone" even has its own Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_optic_drone

I understand that keeping track of news can be difficult, and staying out of that depressing information cycle has clear mental health benefits. However, when joining discussions about current conflicts, it's worth acknowledging any resulting knowledge gaps.

[sfn42]

I had no idea. A kilometers long wire sounded completely infeasible to me, though clearly I underestimated the fiber optics.

I would have thought kilometers of wire would be too heavy to keep on a spool on the drone itself, and without the spool on the drone you probably can't have fly by wire. That's why I was dismissive, it sounded to me like a completely infeasible idea.

[myfonj]

Fair enough, I remember being sceptical myself when I first read about that. Well, learnt something new today, at least. (In that WP article I see that wire-guided war devices are much older invention than I thought.)

[lucianbr]

Maybe apply something similar to the Chesterton Fence principle: don't be dismissive of an idea unless you really understand the ins and outs of it.