The Russian Armed Forces crew set a record for the combat range of fiber-optic drones: the FPV-drone "Provod-15", manufactured by the Tula company "Ovod", successfully operated at a distance of 40 kilometers and 400 meters. The drone operators successfully overcame anti-drone defenses, including nets.
"Provod" has been serially supplied to the troops since January 2026. The basic version of the device can carry up to 4.5 kg of payload over a distance of 25–30 km. The new record range of 40.4 km exceeds the stated basic characteristics by 10 km, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the modifications.
The record range of the "Provod-15" clearly demonstrates the growing capabilities of Russian fiber-optic drones, which provide protection against electronic warfare systems and allow strikes at previously inaccessible distances.
Increased flight range of fiber-optic drones
In December 2025, the editorial board reported on an even more ambitious UAV project: Russian engineers developed a module with fiber optics for 65 km, thereby comparing the range of FPV drones with Western guided artillery shells Excalibur. There are no results yet of the module's combat application. At the same time, it was noted that the previous technical limit of fiber-optic systems was approximately 40 km due to the coil capacity.
In February 2025, the maximum range of Russian fiber-optic kamikaze drones was 16 km. In just over a year, this figure more than doubled. The main advantage of the technology remains its complete independence from the radio channel and resistance to electronic warfare systems.