Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Training combat drone pilots the hard way

 

There's a very interesting article over at The War Zone on how Ukraine is training its FPV (first person view) drone pilots to take on the enemy, and win.  Here's an excerpt.


It’s one thing to have drones. It is something else altogether to reliably guide them to dynamic targets across a chaotic and bloody battlefield. While the many videos of attacks on tanks, trucks, and troops like the one below make it look easy, it’s not.

“We have a constant need to train our pilots and operators. The world of unmanned systems is constantly changing and the enemy comes up with certain methods or can prevent us from completing our tasks,” said one of the soldiers, who goes by callsign Teenager. “We have the opportunity to constantly train and improve our skills.”

As he speaks, the video cuts to an FPV drone flying through a net-covered tube obstacle. It’s one of the many hurdles new pilots have to navigate as they become familiar with flying and experienced pilots have to use to refresh their skills.

For rookies, just getting to that stage takes time.

“Our training is done in several stages,” said another soldier, callsign Glory. “It starts with a base of basic summer practices, then the second stage is more complex practices, and then there are application tactics, where our pilots learn to counter the enemy, an imitation of what is on the battlefield.”

The obstacle course offers many challenges, from mockups of building facades to slaloming around metal poles to buzzing through hoops. There are also static targets, like an old automobile ... This training teaches pilots to make kills that look right out of a dystopian movie, including strikes through open windows, doors and tank hatches.


There's more at the link, including photographs and links to some spectacular combat footage.

The trainees are also taught to use a 3D printer in the field, so that they can produce their own spare parts to repair their drones when needed.  I hope the US is watching developments like this closely;  our forces deploy tens of thousands of drones of different sizes, and their operators need to be as up-to-date as possible on actual battlefield tactics, defenses, and so on.

As I've said before:  I'm very glad my military service ended several decades ago.  I'd hate to be on a modern battlefield, where the slightest exposure might mean one or more drones hunting me down and blowing me up.  I'd feel pretty darn helpless out there!

Peter


9 comments:

  1. standard issue per man
    one 12 gauge double-barrel loaded with 3½" #3 buck
    Pull!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. An American 180 .22lr. W/275 round drum is called a swam of angry bees. Tactical innovations makes one as an 'upper' for an M16 platform that ejects through the magwell. Some serious drone medicine right there. Check em out on whotube.

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  2. Technology marches on, in spite of the brass...

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  3. Yup, one thing that the Ukraine - Russia was has been invaluable for is telling us that WWII war styles will no longer work. Tanks must be invulnerable from all directions, including top and bottom. Drones are deadly serious in swarms and in the hands of good operators. 3D printers must be close to the battlefield.

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  4. How are you going to defend against a swarm of 100 drones ? A 1,000 drones ? All under the control of an AI. It is coming, you know it is.

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  5. Isn't it always about using these random wars to improve our battlefield technology? And continuing to reduce our freedoms at the same time by jingoism. Ike called it.

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  6. “ This training teaches pilots to make kills that look right out of a dystopian movie, including strikes through open windows, doors and tank hatches.”

    It allows you to control some pretty cool weaponry with your mind - McKay, “Stargate Atlantis”

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  7. The Europeans are, despite having signed treaties to the contrary, desperately working on autonomous kill AI-controlled drones. Russian jamming is so good that they feel the need to take humans out of the kill chain.

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  8. The defense against drones is drones that kill other drones. They must be fully autonomous in operation and able to recognize correct targets. They also need to be cheap, expendable and numerous.

    There needs to be models in a whole bunch of sizes, speeds, and ranges.

    Jamming will make direct human control of drones difficult or impossible. They will be required and designed to work like a swarm of angry wasps.

    ReplyDelete

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