#Ukraine #recruiting #public #push #hightech #army #drones
In a hilly meadow just outside the city limits, a pickup truck kicks up dust as it speeds downhill, and its passengers belt out the theme of the 1980s hit comedy Police Academy.
However, this is not US law enforcement. It’s a Ukrainian military Mitsubishi L200 on the outskirts of Kyiv chasing a quadcopter surveillance drone, not bank robbers.
The troops inside are in training to spearhead Ukraine’s bid to modernize its tactical response on the front lines of its war with Russia by vast amounts of its drone fleet.
Ukraine, which was one of the poorest countries in Europe even before the February 24 invasion of Moscow, has no official drone force and relies on the patriotism and hard cash of its civilians for equipment and training.
“Today it’s very important to have a drone in every combat unit because those are our eyes in the sky,” says Lt. Anton Galyashinskiy, 40, an Army visual data analysis expert who is taking part in the exercise.
Today, Galjazhinsky and nine of his comrades are learning to control the machines from a moving vehicle.
They are taught by the Global Drones Academy, a private company run by Anton Veklenko, who has operated all types of unmanned aerial vehicles since 2015 and says it is “in high demand”.
“One of the most important aspects of the training is safety when using civilian drones in a combat zone,” he told AFP.
– ‘Difficult to see’ –
A 35-year-old drone photography specialist, Veklenko expanded into military training after the outbreak of war, teaching civilians and military alike how to become long-distance pilots for the war effort — and how not to become a target of Russian fire.
“At the beginning of the war, many of our soldiers died because they didn’t know they were being watched,” he added.
“We have developed a method for you not to reveal your position.”
Drones allow Kyiv to conduct reconnaissance along the 2,470-kilometer frontline, spot Russian forces and equipment, and direct artillery fire from afar.
They save Ukrainian lives, but they are expensive and scarce.
Both sides have already deployed smaller radio-controlled machines, but Kyiv says Russian electronic countermeasures that disrupt their communications systems are becoming increasingly effective.
Two weeks ago, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy launched an “Army of Drones” call for private money to buy a fleet of military-grade unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from countries around the world.
Ukrainians and foreign backers have already raised around 13.5 million euros (dollars), which will be used for an initial 200 military-grade machines equipped with state-of-the-art thermographic cameras, GPS and mapping software.
“The most important thing is that they are difficult to spot, which means they are difficult to take down,” the appeal reads on its website.
“These drones will help constantly monitor the front line and identify the attacker’s positions.”
– ‘Drones’ –
Yury Shchygol, head of Ukraine’s cybersecurity and intelligence agency, told reporters this week that procurement teams already have a deal with Polish manufacturers and have procured four tactical drones.
They are investigating possible deals in Israel, Japan, Portugal and the United States, he added.
Zelensky is also calling for donations of “dronations” — gifts from smaller consumer drones — directly to Ukraine or to warehouses in the United States and Poland for onward shipment to the front lines.
Hobbyists and commercial drone pilots have already started donating their machines to bolster the “army of drones,” but Ukraine has set its sights much higher.
“We received 30 drones as part of the Donate Your Drone program, both from Ukrainians and from abroad. Our goal is to collect 1,000 civilian drones,” Shchygol said.
The push took on new urgency this week as US officials warn of Russian plans to acquire hundreds of combat drones from Iran.
Learning to operate civilian drones takes two weeks, Shchygol said, while pilots of military-grade reconnaissance drones take a month to train.
But he believes that the efforts of the “Army of Drones” will bring dividends beyond the conflict with Russia.
“Elon Musk himself said a few days ago that the wars of the future will be decided by drones,” he said.
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#Ukraine #recruiting #public #push #hightech #army #drones
