THE CRUNCH
The global buildout of AI data centres is making it harder for Ukraine to buy the fibre-optic cable it needs to scale drone manufacturing, according to a representative of Ukrainian defence firm BlueBird Tech speaking to Ars Technica. Fibre-optic tethered drones are immune to electronic warfare jamming, and both sides in the war now use them. Prices for the cable have risen roughly six to ten times over the past couple of years as data centre demand absorbs more of the supply.
The scale of the imbalance is stark. Ukraine and Russia are together estimated to produce around 50,000 fibre-optic drones a month, with ranges of up to 62 miles per drone. Yet in August 2025 Ukraine managed to acquire only 72 miles of cable from Chinese suppliers, while Russia imported 328,000 miles that month. Russia is estimated to have acquired 37 million miles of fibre across 2025, over 10% of global production.
Geography and trade add to the squeeze. China is the primary source of the material, and Russia's long land border makes procurement easier, whereas the BlueBird representative said some Chinese companies have refused to sell to Ukraine outright. Buying through intermediaries elsewhere is possible but with prices varying by route, and not much of an alternative; the rep noted that "in the end, China remains the main source of the fiber optic material we are talking about." Talk of domestic Ukrainian production faces its own hurdle: it needs specially trained staff, who must train on the already limited cable supply.
The fibre crunch fits a wider pattern. The data centre buildout has already driven shortfalls in GPUs, memory chips, PCBs, optical transceivers, power infrastructure and skilled labour such as electricians, and is now reaching industries far from computing, including car manufacturing and home construction. An estimated 111-million-mile global shortfall in fibre-optic cable adds to these shortages.