A View From The Reconnaissance & Armoured Tactics Division (RATD) – Navigating The Future

My name is LCpl Dunbar, I'm in the Royal Tank Regiment and over the last six months I've had the chance to get hands on with a consumer level drone. Having had the chance to use these small drones on multiple occasions they are very capable little machines that are very easy to get to grips with, making them ideal for quickly training up new pilots.

During my time with them they have been used in multiple roles such as content capture and using them as a new form of reconnaissance. For content capture, they are great for recording aerial footage of training exercises to look back on, to see where improvements can be made and what aspects of the training could be done differently now that a new perspective can be taken. Which, until recently, hasn't really been used to much effect back at the Regiment. I personally feel that even though it is relatively new to me, it offers great training value and there's no real reason why these can’t be taken on exercises going forward. Recordings of demonstrations and displays can also be filmed in a much better way giving the audience a far better view of what's going on than they have before. During my time out in Estonia this was used to great effect in showcasing how drones can be used to the DCGS Lieutenant General Sir Christopher Tickell KBE by showing how simple the controls are and giving him eyes on the display showing a live feed of what the drone could see from above.

I was able to have a look at the potential use in the reconnaissance role during my time out in Estonia as well. The specific model of drone that I have been using has the added feature of a digital thermal vision camera alongside the standard 4k one. The quality of this camera, as basic as it is, actually worked out to be very effective when used looking directly down above a woodland looking for “enemy” tanks. Looking head-on into the trees was far more limited due to the fact that it isn't a true thermal

OPERATING DRONES IN ESTONIA

Lance Corporal Dunbar

In recent years the technological advancements in drone technology have made it possible to create smaller and more capable Remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) that can offer invaluable intelligence on the modern-day battlefield. RPAS are widely available to both corporate and consumer markets but also have a military capability that can dramatically change the way soldiers conduct certain aspects of their work and in turn have the potential to save lives.

The author with DCGS Lieutenant General Tickell on a visit to Estonia.

camera but nevertheless still penetrated further than I expected it to. Flying over the tops of the trees and looking straight down however was far more effective and, after showing others that were nearby at the time from other Regiments, they too were also quite surprised at how clearly vehicles and dismounted personnel showed up through the trees. The only drawback I felt in using this specific drone for this role was how easily the signal from the controller to drone was blocked, in this case the trees. I'm sure as you go up the quality ladder and pay more these issues become less and less of an issue, but this was the main issue I felt with the ones I got to use.

For what you can accomplish with these small and portable drones is well worth the investment in my eyes. You can teach, you can learn, and you can get a whole new perspective on things that even only a few years ago you were unable to get for a fairly low cost. It's still early days for drone adoption but I think that they will be used more and more throughout the military as time goes on and will become an integral part of the job.