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Online course for drone operators launched

The «Come Back Alive» charity foundation and the Ukrainian educational platform Prometheus created an online course called «Basic tactics for using DJI Mavic 3 and Autel EVO II quadcopters in combat conditions».

Civil copters are widely used in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The most common for Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance units are DJI Mavic 3 and Autel EVO II. These drones are simple and convenient for civil use, but you need special knowledge and skills for their effective use in combat.

«The course combines many years of practical experience of drone operators using civilian copters in Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2014-2022. It is updated with knowledge gained after February 24, 2022. Because each phase of the Russo-Ukrainian war has its specifics. Various possible scenarios at the frontline were counted,» says the course organizer Vira Moiseyenko, the Come Back Alive consultant on the tactics of using unmanned aerial vehicles.

The course doesn’t contain comprehensive knowledge but provides a concentrated base sufficient for the work of a quadcopter operators’ work. The course’s purpose is to improve the professional skills of military personnel in using civilian UAVs tactics in combat conditions. These skills would reduce the number of drone losses due to pilot error.
Students will learn what combat tasks civilian copters can solve and how to start working with them. They also will learn how to use drones, considering various risk factors: from weather conditions to enemy resistance.

The course program is HERE.

Who is the course for?

It is only for military personnel’s use.

The lectures were developed primarily for rank-and-file personnel without experience in UAVs’ combat use.

However, the course will help experienced pilots avoid common mistakes at work and not lose drones, even in critical situations.

For sergeants and officers, the course will be useful for better understanding UAV-using tactics in their units.

Also, these lectures can be used by instructors of training centers during training operators for the military.

How can Ukrainian warriors participate in the training?


The volume of the course is 10 hours. Access to it will be available for 8 months. All students need is Internet speed sufficient to watch video lectures. To pass the course successfully and to receive a certificate, the person must review and read all the lectures and score at least 80% on the test tasks.

The authors of the course: Mykola Tersimonov (senior UAV instructor of the Come Back Alive), Oleksandr Gaidar (infantry weapons instructor), Vira Moiseyenko (consultant of the Foundation for UAV tactics),
Artem Platonenko (scientist and instructor) and aerial scouts Roman Shcherbina, Masi Nayem, «Photographer».


More about Come Back Alive’s UAV instructors department


The instructors’ direction for training UAV operators at the “Come Back Alive” Foundation has existed since mid-2021. Our instructors are veterans of the Russo-Ukrainian war who have real combat experience in using civilian quadcopters and tactical-level military UAVs for reconnaissance. From the time instructors’ direction was established to the start of a full-scale invasion, the Come Back Alive instructors have trained about 140 drone and UAV operators for the Ukrainian military.

After the full-scale Russian invasion began, the Foundation’s instructors were responsible for providing the Ukrainian Defence Forces with aerial reconnaissance devices. In cooperation with the UAV operators in the military, our instructors developed an intensive online course to train entry-level drone operators, including the experience generalized during a full-scale war. In addition, in November 2022, the instructors of the “Come Back Alive” together with the 190th training center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, trained and equipped 48 aerial scouts of artillery brigades of the Ukrainian army with cars, signal means and power supply, and DJI Matrice 300 quadcopters.

In addition, this instructional direction of the Foundation contributed to improving the training programs of the 190th training center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Come Back Alive also supports this training center with equipment.

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