Soldiers make their drone racing debut October 2024

Soldiers pitted their flying skills against each other in the first drone racing competition staged by the British Army.

The 1st (UK) Division drone racing competition was held at the Corporal Budd VC Gymnasium in Colchester to showcase the skills of troops learning to fly First Person View (FPV) Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS).

FPV UAS provide a precision strike capability on the battlefield and are being used to great effect by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Flown using a virtual reality headset and carrying small explosive charges, the manoeuvrability of FPV UAS means they can punch above their weight. More skilled pilots can achieve more with a UAS, such as flying through an open hatch to destroy an armoured vehicle by exploding inside it.

While the race night (Tues 24 Sep '24) lacked explosives, the spirit of competition was strong as soldiers and aviators raced around a challenging indoor course demanding they fly over, under and around obstacles at speed. As a demonstration of the skills that pilots can aspire towards, the British Military Drone Racing Team raced the Australian Defence Force team.

II Squadron RAF Regiment emerged as winners from the five teams in the military competition, with Australia taking the international fixture.

Event organiser Major James Metcalfe, of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said: “This event is capability driven. The drone racing competition is a way to add momentum to our soldiers’ FPV training and to raise awareness of the capability across the Army. It allows our soldiers to develop and test the skills that they need to fly these drones in an operational setting. The soldiers competing have only had the equipment for a few months, but the speed and precision of their flying is already impressive, and the enthusiasm and competitiveness is as strong as you would expect!”

Private Blake Summerville raced for 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment. “Competing against others gives you an idea of your own skills – and I feel that I am at a good level for the time that I’ve been flying,” he said. “To see pilots who’ve been flying for years and the speed and agility they’ve got was impressive, and inspiring.”

FPV UAS lack the GPS and stabilization software fitted to conventional drones so are harder to fly; but this makes them less vulnerable to jamming and more resilient on the battlefield.

Pte Summerville said: “The pilot is in total control of an FPV, and you have to understand how the drone banks when it turns and be more precise in use of the controls. It is quite hard to learn, and it takes a lot of time to build your experience and muscle memory. You can’t just give someone a controller to anyone and expect them to do it, flying requires a lot of concentration and commitment – what you put in is what you get out.”

The event included a showcase of UAS and counter-UAS technology currently in service with the British Army, as well as the latest technology available from industry.

Currently infantry units are issued with the Parrot and Black Hornet UAS to use for reconnaissance, with soldiers completing a three-week course to qualify as pilots. Pte Summerville is a qualified UAS Pilot, and during recent NATO training in Estonia flew Parrot drones to direct the fire of Apache attack helicopters supporting troops on the ground.

“We’ve all seen what drones are already doing on the battlefield in Ukraine and it was really interesting to be able to see the latest technology out there and what capabilities it can offer in the future,” he said.

The flying skills learnt through drone racing will be a key skill on the Army’s next battlefield, and the sport is being actively promoted across 1st (UK) Division through a planned series of competitive events.

The FPV UAS training is being delivered by the jHub Drone Academy as part of Project Lewes, the Army’s wide-ranging work to integrate new technologies and capabilities into its existing forces to improve lethality.

The jHub is part of Strategic Command and aims to grow the military’s capabilities through the adoption of innovative technology faster and better than our adversaries. Working with the Army’s Combat Manoeuvre Centre, the Drone Academy project has developed and delivered a distributed training solution for FPV flying for all three services.