Another 3,000 UAV operators trained as part of the Army of Drones project

8 September, 2023 Launch of an FPV drone. Illustrative photo As part of the second phase of the Army of Drones project, Ukraine trained over 3,000 more UAV operators in July.

Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov made the announcement. The operators underwent theoretical and practical training in special educational institutions. They learned to fly reconnaissance copters, FPV drones and other types of UAVs.

The newly trained operators have successfully passed the exam, so they are ready to use their skills for destroying Russian equipment on the front line.

Training of UAV operators as part of the second phase of the Army of Drones project as of the end of July 2023. Photo credits: Mykhailo Fedorov

The Minister notes that the second stage of training for UAV operators, which started in June, is currently underway.

3,354 operators have been trained so far. It is planned that a total of 10,000 pilots will be trained.

Fedorov reminded that during the first stage, 10,000 UAV operators had already been trained under the Army of Drones project in Ukraine. So far, 5 special schools have joined the project to train drone operators to "be invisible in the hottest spots, conduct reconnaissance and hit the target." In total, 31 institutions are involved in training UAV operators. Previously, Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov reported that the units provided by the Army of Drones project had destroyed 1,280 units of Russian equipment in three months.

Damaged and destroyed equipment and weapons of the Russians by the UAV operators of the Army of Drones project as of September 2013.

Photo credits: Mykhailo Fedorov

According to him, 246 tanks, 389 armored fighting vehicles, 126 artillery systems, 325 trucks, as well as other enemy equipment and weapons were destroyed. In addition, 631 Russian invaders were injured and killed. In the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the first UAV strike companies were established in March. Their creation as part of the Defense Forces was approved by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valerii Zaluzhny.

The Army of Drones is a program that includes the system purchase of drones, their repair and maintenance.

And if necessary, operational replacement of lost UAVs and pilot training courses.

In August 2022, the first drones purchased within the Army of Drones project were delivered to Ukraine to meet the needs of the Defense Forces.