Man, sit down 'cause I'm about to tell you something you haven't even heard at Fane's terrace! Look, while we're whining about gas prices going up, Ukrainians are turning gamers and IT geeks into Shahed drone hunters, bro! For real, they have training centers where former computer gamers or specialists who only knew how to write code are being turned into interceptor drone pilots. And I'm not joking, I'd put my hand in the fire that it's true, I saw it on pravda.ua.
Listen up how it goes: the crew is made up of three to four people - pilots, navigators, technicians, and drivers. The lives of people in cities now depend on them, because the Russians keep sending Shaheds, a hundred a night, you can see it. To cope, the army and volunteers have set up training schools. Where do they recruit? From the army, those who already know FPV drones, but also from civilians, gamers and IT geeks who catch on quickly to technology. And not only that: they also bring in wounded soldiers who can't go to war anymore. One, Volodymyr, coordinator at the Pritula Center, says: "Some have amputated fingers or tremors after concussions, but we make them technicians - they assemble catapults, antennas, platforms." Now that's a second chance, bro!
In the Darknode battalion of the 412th Brigade "Nemesis", an inexperienced pilot is ready in a month. Yes, a month! Some start on reconnaissance drones to learn orientation, launching, landing. At the Pritula Center, for the Sting multicopter (the one that takes down Shaheds) the course is five days, but only for soldiers who already know FPV. The first two days theory and simulators (Liftoff and Obrii, they call them), then three days of practical flights. For the Taras-P, a drone-plane, it takes two weeks and is also for beginners. Andrii, the training officer, says Taras-P is "practically a disposable plane" - they prepare it dozens of times before it flies well, lots of wear and tear and repairs.
Before getting a real drone, trainees must prove they can control a 10-inch FPV through gates and hoops. Volodymyr says: "We have to be sure the person is ready, otherwise we lose expensive equipment." Then they move to the Sting: search for the target, simulate interception. They use Ukrainian VB 140 Flamingo drones as targets. Taras-P crews must make at least two flights at 50 km. Tactical scenarios: they get coordinates, take off, search for the target, track it, and "hit" it. All flights are coordinated with the General Staff - if there's an alert, they suspend.
The instructors would like to spend more time with each crew, but the soldiers can only give 5-14 days. After graduation, new operators join teams with veterans: at first they just observe, then take over tasks. When they gain confidence, they get their own station and go on combat duty. And just like that, the peace of cities depends on them - they manage to shoot down Shaheds before people hear that "moped" noise.
Man, what have we become? There, gamers do army work, and around here, the coolest guys are the ones playing FIFA in the parking lot. Maybe we should also look at the smart guys, not just the ones with tuned BMWs. Alright, I'm off to tell Brian to quit TikTok and start the simulator, maybe he'll land a gig in Ukraine.
