The British Army wants improved drone pilots, so it makes them study 'the hardest way to fly'

The British Army is training forthcoming drone operators to fly manually without escape hiv or GPS to create them improved pilots, a commandant engaged in the efforts told Business Insider.

Lt. Col. Matt Keogh stated at a UK defence industry showcase final week that Britain has acquired additional than 10,000 drones in the final twelvemonth through the Project Rapstone fast procurement initiative.

Most of these drones are for training purposes, not conflict. Because drone war innovation and strategies alter so quickly, as the Ukraine war has demonstrated, Rapstone doesn't buy ample numbers of the newest products, which may rotate into obsolete in a matter of weeks or months. Instead, the undertaking invests in pilots.

That method purchasing "totally manually flown" first-person-view, or FPV, drones and "reducing the complexity of the smaller ISR platforms that don't have those safeguards," Keogh said, referring to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance drones.

Keogh stated soldiers train to fly drones the way person power study to run a manual car before switching to an automatic, or navigate alongside a map and compass before relying on GPS.

"We are decision those training gaps at the points of need," he explained. "As lengthy as those foundations are built into our pilots, in the hardest way to fly — i.e., manually — it's far easier to near that training gap."

Britain launched the Project Rapstone undertaking in September 2024 to quickly provision new technology, specified as FPV and ISR drones, to soldiers so they can train and prepared for operations.

Thousands of British Army soldiers have been trained to run drones as part of the Rapstone initiative, although most have learned to fly ISR drones, which Western forces have lengthy used to observe complete the battlefield, fairly than the FPV assault quadcopters that have seen general use in Ukraine.

Britain was training pilots to fly surveillance-type drones "way before Ukraine," Keogh said.

He stated that learning to fly FPV drones is a additional difficult accomplishment to develop. Britain has invested in simulators and equipment for pilots, including tens of thousands of dollars' value of drones, a controller, goggles, and batteries for all serviceman in the training pipeline.

The "input standard" to rotate into an FPV aviator is cognition functioning ISR drones, Keogh said. They afterward necessitate 30 hours of simulator training before enrolling in a two-week controller course. They can additional sharpen their skills alongside an additional two-week commandant course.

Keogh stated there's important overlap between the simulator and flying an genuine drone. "If you put a aviator on the simulator for 30 hours, they volition extremely quickly fair choice up direct away. They'll be really assured flying in genuine life."

However, among the biggest challenges for FPV pilots is navigation, particularly if they're operating in a GPS-denied environment.

In Ukraine, the battlefield is heavily soaked alongside electronic warfare that disrupts drone signals. NATO forces, closely observing the conflict, are training their soldiers to combat under akin conditions anywhere GPS jamming and spoofing are common.

Britain teaches FPV pilots to run in GPS-denied environments by flying lengthy distances throughout training grounds, beyond the row of sight, Keogh said, explaining that pilots and commanders afterward have to map peruse from a video feed.

Other training initiatives in the UK and throughout NATO are instruction soldiers to combat in environments anywhere GPS is degraded or unavailable. While Western forces study these skills as a precaution, officials have warned that the war in Ukraine offers a appearance at what specified a battle could be akin for them.