A fiber optic protection apparatus includes a first optical switch, a first fault detection device, and first switch control device. The first optical switch is placed at the reception node of an optical link and has a primary input port connected to a primary optical transmission path. A secondary input port is connected to one secondary optical transmission path. The first fault detection device is in communication with the primary optical transmission path to identify a fault within the primary optical transmission path and to generate a fault signal indicating type or location of the fault. The fault signal is transferred to the first switch control device that is in communication with the optical switch. This causes the optical switch to connect one of the secondary optical transmission paths to the reception node when the fault signal indicates that the primary optical transmission path has a fault.