"No one is rushing around now - there is no time," director of the UAV operator school

More than three thousand trained drone operators since spring 2022. An experience that is changing the warfare technique every day. Michelle Armand, director of the Free Air Drone Operator School, told us how to save the lives and health of every soldier and how this is possible thanks to technology. Watch the full video and read the shortened exclusive interview on Intent about the experience on Maidan, Kherson, Odesa and the value of a saved life.

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Video: Intent

What drones are currently in use besides FPV?

Nowadays, more attention is paid to FPV drones, but they are not the basis for combat operations. Also, Mavic shouldn't be discounted because they are the ones that make the drops. And there are many different ones. There is also Autel, there is the DJI Matrice line. These are very large drones, and hexacopters, not just quadcopters. The only thing we don't train on is the wings.

What is the basis for training drone operators?

It depends on what the group needs. There are cases when guys and girls need it yesterday. So they move and take a very short course. It's a very intense week. Nowadays, there is less and less need for such a course. And not just one operator can come, only a group of people. The best is six people. It will also work for 2-3 people. In general, a normal course on DJI Mavic lasts two weeks, on FPV - a month, but only after the people who will be trained on FPV have already completed the Mavic course. This is the rule at our school, I don't know about others.

We constantly keep in touch with our military. We take everything new into account, and every other group already receives more updated information on this subject.

Why don't they use computer-based training or create an online course for this purpose?

There is no substitute for practical exercises. We provide a lot of time and information on security. Unfortunately, all this knowledge is gained through injuries, blood, and contusions. That is, our instructors, absolutely all of them, have real combat experience and have suffered from it. He knows exactly how to dig a hole, how to fly an EW, and how it feels. You can't explain it on video.

You need to pick up the remote controls, understand how the bird reacts, how you lose control and video communication. It has to be like a touchscreen, felt with your hands and heart. For example, before picking up an FPV drone remote control, a person should fly for 30 hours. No more, no less. The way MAVic and FPV are controlled is completely different. If you compare it, it's like driving a car with an automatic transmission and then getting behind a ZIL. The steering wheel is the same, the gearbox exists, but it drives differently.

We have already developed several courses, we have five of them. People can find themselves if they really want to. That is, a person must understand the principle of operation in order to interact between different systems. Previously, we used to hire everyone to train as many operators as possible because we realized that it saves lives, but now the approach to training has changed completely.

Now we are keeping this idea, but we realize that there are people who do not need it and are not given to it. We are now going through a very serious selection process. If a person is unable to do the job, doesn't understand it, doesn't want to, then they are reprimanded and sent home. No one pushes, no one persuades. There is no time for that. Too many lives have already been lost to play with someone who doesn't want to do it.

The latest technologies can save lives, and this is a very big step for people to realize how invaluable every person's life is.

Did it become easier to work and buy when drone production started to grow in Ukraine?

We are a non-profit organization. From day one, we have existed solely on our own funds. We would like to attract some help, because it can be very difficult when boys and girls come to study. Weather conditions, something else, the drone falls down, breaks down. And you realize that you simply have nothing to teach. You can't run to the volunteers and ask them, because they are sewing themselves up, and they need to pass the same drones to the boys.

Photo: FreeAir UA/Facebook

Sometimes our friends help us, we are not left without help, but it can be difficult. Everything we have is thanks to volunteers or ourselves. Our instructors buy everything they need themselves, and they also help the boys. There are groups that come naked and barefoot. They don't have time to just go and choose their own clothes. This also happens. So we get together, throw money at them, go and buy them.

Is it necessary to have REBs for training?

We have had friends of our school since August. They are a manufacturer of REBs. I was amazed, because buying a REB is not so easy. It is not cheap, let's say. I don't want to buy it to stand on my balcony either. But the guys need to learn. We have a small portable one, but it doesn't give you the understanding of how a real big REB works when you are out there.

We visited our graduates in Kherson, who were standing there with REBs, to test how it all works. At that time, I hadn't had such an experience, but our cadets had. First of all, I was very pleased to see how they interacted with each other, cooperated, and realized that this was a cool thing.

Usually, when you ask the military if they have any electronic warfare protection, they say that volunteers brought some green stuff. They don't understand how it works. And now we are planning a free course with this manufacturer. It will really be on video, because this knowledge is universal. Absolutely everyone needs it.

We set a very high standard for the health of our military. EW is a dangerous thing, and you need to work with it wisely, because one of our friends is gray-haired. Right from the moment he started working with EWRs. However, this is a very serious help for our military.

Tell us about your trip to Kherson, how did you see it after the de-occupation?

Before the invasion, I used to drive through Kherson without visiting the city itself, but this time we were there with the REB manufacturers. My first impression of the city was that it was destroyed. There was not a single piece of land left standing, everything was broken, cut up, and mutilated. Two days before we left, I started reading the Kherson news and was shocked, to be honest.

The city is constantly shelled. I would call it a testing ground for drones. On people, on everyone. We were traveling as civilians, there was no direct military escort. And we did not move less than 100 kilometers per hour in the city, because you cannot be sure that something will not be dropped on you. You can't see, you just drive. It's impossible to turn on the electronic warfare equipment all the time because it has two sides. On the one hand, it protects you, on the other hand, the Russians can see you. It was scary, really scary.

The city is extremely sincere. Cool people live there, there are shops and cafes. So it's not dead. But the way they destroyed it, I was shocked. And not even at the time of the occupation, but afterwards. We were there near the park. As we were told, the park was mined - completely. We went anyway at our own risk. It was a very beautiful park - it was loved. He left crumbs of this love - some drawings on the walls, very interesting trees. There is an abandoned café, it used to be quite popular, and the grass is cut there, that is, the owners or people who worked there still come there and cut the grass.

I found a story on your blog about your trip to the Maidan, and you were working as a journalist at the time. Looking back on this period, how do you see the events of the Maidan and their impact on us today?

At the time, they were something very strange for me. I didn't quite understand what was going on. I can't say that I was apolitical, but at that time I was going through some ups and downs in my life, and journalism was like a way out. When I was first offered to come to the Maidan, it was exactly when Lenin was overthrown. And I saw it all. A lot of people. It was unusual for me to see so many law enforcement officers, aggressive people in general, I had only seen them in movies before. I had never experienced this before. And I was so scared, I didn't quite understand why people were staying there, not going home from the Maidan.

At first, I just took information from other sources, and then we organized a trip to the Maidan for Odesa journalists. And we left on the night when the first shootings began. And it was quite scary, but we arrived, we had a very big company. This is the difference between Odesa journalists in general. They are all different in every place. But in Odesa, they don't compete somehow. They are for each other. And I already had a little experience at that time, but not that much. And when we got there, I saw how much mutual aid works, how much people on the Maidan themselves treat each other kindly, with heart. How many times they stopped me because they thought I was a child, saying: "Go have some tea, what do you need it for? The grown-ups will figure it out." And I was so impressed by this in a good way. I went there anyway, recorded some very powerful interviews for me. And I was glad when, after a while, I saw the people I talked to alive and well. It was very cool.

I watched a lot of movies and really wanted to do something else with some sensational news. As a result, I got hit in the neck with a rubber bullet. It was good that I was wearing a lot of scarves and a hood, and it didn't break my neck. But somehow I was stuck after that. I ate that snow because I fell. I still remember the taste of it. They were trying to cover me, pull me out, they just grabbed me by my hood and dragged me out.

I had a lot of emotions, I was very sad for our people, that we have to fight for freedom and rights with our own blood. And it still hurts me to think about it, how many people were killed and injured. This should not have happened.

Does working in the military sphere change your views on the war itself and life around you?

It is very hardening. You start to look at things more deeply, because behind every small victory there is a lot of work and a lot of lives. The value of life has changed. On the one hand, if I used to think that there were people behind the barrier, I don't think so anymore. In principle, I don't care what happens to them. But every death, injury, or contusion of our people is somehow, you know, like a nerve being exposed, the most painful for me. I will never forgive this.

What is it about this work that gives you a sense of joy and pride?

First of all, I am very proud of the achievements of our cadets. Many of them have received awards from the President of Ukraine, and this is very valuable. The most important thing is that we place great emphasis on the safety of our pilots, so that they can save not only their lives but also those around them and civilians.

Photo: FreeAir UA/Facebook

"Perhaps the most valuable thing for me is when guys from some very hot destination call and say: 'Do you remember how you persuaded us to dig holes? It saved our lives. Do you remember how you said you were going to land, raise the drone, see what's next, whether there is an ambush. We saw it and went around it by another way."

And everyone is alive and well. And this is the most valuable thing we get. Videos of their work are cool, but knowing that they are alive is much better.

Марія Литянська