\u201cIn every area, they\u2019re using FPV drones,\u201d said Yehor Cherniev, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian parliament\u2019s Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence. \u201cThey\u2019re a cheap weapon, and a weapon that \u0441an be used en masse.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it takes longer to learn to fly them than, say, the hardware-and-software-stabilized photography quadcopters used across Ukraine\u2019s frontline to coordinate artillery.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are literally flying this drone like it was a Cessna [plane] from the 1960s,\u201d said Dvoretskyi.<\/p>\n
To simplify the task, FPV drones typically fly in airborne teams with photography drones that sport a wider range of view and advanced zoom lenses. The operators of the photo drones mark the GPS coordinates of Russian vehicles and soldiers for the FPV pilots.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cFPV drones can\u2019t exist without [photography drones],\u201d said Anton Frolov, the lead instructor at the Kruk<\/a>\u00a0drone-operator school in Kyiv.<\/p>\n Highly motivated students can become good FPV pilots in around 30 days, with pilots learning theoretical knowledge, flying, and even how to repair drones in that time period, according to Maria Berlinska, the founder of Victory Drones.<\/p>\n In addition to pilot training, VIctory Drones runs a vast web of other resources, including seminars on drones, education on how to assemble FPV drones, and courses in using battlefield intelligence software programs like Ukraine\u2019s homegrown Kropiva program.<\/p>\n Berlinska, a longstanding advocate for Ukrainian women\u2019s role in the military, also launched an initiative to train female drone pilots.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a technological war,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not so important to be very physically strong, you have to be strong in your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Training at Kruk runs slightly shorter, clocking in at two weeks.\u00a0 Frolov said the training has been compressed to accommodate the needs of the war. The Kruk course includes several hours on how to build FPV drones.<\/p>\n Frolov said students start by using flight simulators similar to what\u2019s available on video game site Steam. They then move onto field exercises, with students practicing strikes on a fridge-sized robot driving at around 10 miles an hour.<\/p>\n The most talented pilots are used to playing computer games, he said. People with \u201cPlayStation experience\u201d do better, Dvoretskyi agreed.<\/p>\n In the last ten months, Victory Drones has prepared a thousand FPV pilots, making a total of 38,000 graduates in the school\u2019s various programs. Berlinska said. Kruk has trained around 800 FPV pilots at a rate of 80 a month, for a total of 3,300 drone pilot graduates.<\/p>\n Berlinska estimates the country needs 10,000 FPV pilots in its\u00a0one million-strong<\/a>\u00a0military. It\u2019s unclear how many drone pilots are currently trained, given that training is done at civilian-run training centers, like Kruk and Victory Drones.<\/p>\n Everyone, though, needs to have some level of familiarity with FPV drones, said Berlinska. \u201cIdeally, every soldier could use a drone like they could a rifle.\u201d<\/p>\n