Drone Awareness: Types and Roles of Patrolling using Drones

One of the more common topic questions we get in emails revolves around drone awareness and implementation. People have an understandable fear of drones. Its not without good reason, nearly daily we're served with video footage of them being weaponized in Ukraine, in Mexico's current generation cartel war, and most importantly in my opinion, the ongoing Burmese civil war. I'm personally of two opinions on the topic as a whole - one, that like any enabler they are here to stay, while also of the opinion that small unit drone warfare is not an insurmountable threat. Like everything, the topic carries its nuances, those usually being beyond the capacity of those uninitiated to violence. 

Before we get into drone awareness and you its important to define the two distinct roles drones play in small unit activities. I define them simply as falling in line with reconnaissance and combat patrols. A drone's job as an enabler is to enhance the small unit's capabilities and everything we see fits neatly in those two roles. A recon patrol's job is to locate enemy positions, defining routes of ingress and egress, all supporting a future plan of attack. One example of this is pictured below depicting the successive sectors zone method applied to drone use. The combat patrol is planned and conducted based on what the recon patrol finds. And with that bit of context we can understand the propaganda videos in each of those aforementioned contexts a bit better. 

Recon drones are a higher tier asset, not considered disposable - these should be equipped with a gimbal camera and thermal capability. The Autel Evo Lite 640T is one of the better ones on the market that I have found for this purpose. Its shorter range (>3mi), long battery life and user friendly interface makes it my preferred choice for a number of years now. I consider it superior to DJI's offerings due to the lack of a registration requirement and lower cost for similar performance. 

Combat drones are usually disposable and easily replicatable, which is why we see FPVs as frequently as we do in that role. Since these are mostly designed for hobby racing, they're not normally outfitted with a gimbal or secondary guidance packages - the camera is fixed forward, and they usually are strapped with a payload designed to detonate on contact. Drone frames are usually 3D printed and equipped with cheap rotor motor and radio guidance systems with the only reusable requirement being the operator's control interface. 

In practice the recon drone finds an enemy position a number of ways, with the operator relaying a SALUTE or SALT report to the patrol leader. From there the patrol decides the plan of attack and executes. But in this scenario, like most others with a civilian purpose like search and rescue, the recon-tasked drone is doing the heavy lifting. That's what you don't often see in the propaganda videos. Its boring and long, and may not be a fruitful endeavor. Just like anything else on a recon patrol. 

Like everything, mating the concepts of the operation to actual practice takes getting out in the field and doing it. And a big part of that doing it is doing it with people who know what they're doing. Its not exactly rocket science but it does require people who have a clue about a clue. And that's where training steps in. Come join us.