Fiber optic cables aren’t just for controlling drones, they are sensor networks. It is critical for Ukraine to invest in this kind of technology and research, not only for defense purposes but in the aftermath of the war the amount of waste from fiber optic cables laid across intense parts of the frontline is a sacrifice that has already been forced upon the landscape, at least the cables could be used to collect seismic surveys before the arduous process of cleanup begins. Consider that a peacetime deployment of an equivalent amount of fiber optic cable would be cost prohibitive, ecologically dubious and politically very difficult to do as it would have to be laid EVERYWHERE to get to the point of coverage that certain places on the frontline have now.

Fiber optic cables are extremely useful via the technology of Distributed Acoustic Sensing for high resolution near surface seismic surveys whether they be ambient or active, which also means this technology will and already does play a crucial role in de-mining efforts. In particular if a DAS/Fiber Optic seismic survey can be done BEFORE mining, the data could be kept air-gapped until after the war to keep it from being compromised, then a DAS/Fiber Optic survey could be done after the war has ended and the difference between the two surveys could be used to help precisely locate mined areas.

Look at the Fiber Optic drones Ukraine has perfected to work under excruciating conditions, they are nearly perfectly optimized machines for laying down Fiber Optic cable for DAS surveys though I assume the width of the fiber optic cable might have to be increased, the principle is the same except without an explosion at the end.

also see…

https://phys.org/news/2025-02-telecommunications-cables-image-ground-beneath.html