Ukraine’s Escadrone On The Skill Of Flying FPV Kamikazes

On the frontline in Ukraine, an attack drone operator prepares for a mission. His teammate is already piloting a Mavic quadcopter to scout out targets, but the kamikaze drone he is preparing is a different machine entirely. It was made by Ukrainian group Escadrone, which is now producing them at a rate of a thousand a month. Unlike the Mavic, it takes real skill to fly.

“FPV kamikaze is about pilots, not about drones,” says an Escadrone spokesman, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity.

The operator checks and lays out FPV (First Person View) goggles, necessary for piloting the high-speed drone, and next to it the Pegasus drone itself. It resembles a sports racing drone, smaller but more powerful than the Mavic and built for a single, fast, one-way mission. He sets up a communication antenna, linking it to his control set and to the video goggles.

Finally he attaches an anti-tank grenade to the drone. Now the drone is a live weapon, ready for action. The operator dons the goggles, activates the drone and prepares for take-off.

The whole process takes about five minutes from unpacking to the point where the drone lifts off.

The Pegasus drone speeds at around 45 mph/ 70kph towards target co-ordinates supplied by the scout team. Skimming at low level, the drone is less likely to be seen or shot at than the reconnaissance drones high above, though the high-pitched whine of its engines gives away its presence.

Usually it takes about three to five minutes to cross the few miles to the enemy positions. The spokesman says their longest recorded mission took a nail-biting 13 minutes to reach the target.

The operator sees the target some distance away: a Russian BMP tracked infantry vehicle heading down a dirt road. He zeroes in, circles around and, coming from behind the BMP, guides his drone towards the base of the vehicle’s turret. The image flickers as the drone drops down and the signal is interrupted, then goes blank. The video feed looks like the drone was on target up to the last second, but did it hit?

A cheer from the scout drone operator, who has been watching the whole attack, confirms the kill. A replay of the video shows a hit, followed by the BMP burning fiercely.

Score another victory for Escadrone, who designed and built the Pegasus. And if the strike fails, the operator can try with another drone. And another. And another. Because these drones are produced in bulk.

“We at Escadrone are patriots of Ukraine who want to help the Ukrainian Army to defend our peoples and our homes,” says the spokesman. “We had an idea that FPV drones could be a cheap weapon, which would save many lives of Ukrainian soldiers.”

The name Escadrone is a portmanteau of ‘eskadron,’ Ukrainian for cavalry squadron, and ‘drone.’ The group formed in May 2022 around a core of drone hobbyists with deep experience building FPV drones. They designed, built and tested prototypes. The most successful of these, with four bright red motors, was quickly put into production with the name Pegasus.

“We decided to make a product, which can help our army, something cheap and expendable so we could make a lot of them,” says the spokesman. “We started this project in cooperation with two highly motivated senior officers of SSU CSO Alpha.”

Alpha Group is an elite Ukrainian Special Forces unit, originally tasked with counter-terrorism but now fighting on the frontline.

While drones made by military manufacturers can be seriously expensive — the U.S. Switchblade loitering munition is priced at about $60,000 — Escadrone made full use of cheap hobby components for Pegasus. According to the spokesman, the basic Pegasus currently costs just $341, while a bigger, more powerful version comes in at $462. Both can be assembled with nothing more complicated than a soldering iron.

Escadrone carried out their first attack in September 2022, destroying a Russian tank near Davydiv Brid.

Combat use quickly revealed ways to improve the design and the team upgraded Pegasus’ motors, the radio antennas and the control electronics, without changing the basic design.

But the spokesman emphasizes that the hardware is not the most important part. While consumer drones like the Mavic can be flown out of the box by novices with no training, using an FPV drone effectively requires considerable skill.

“Flying an FPV drone is not so hard. But if you want to use it like a weapon, you have train for a month,” says the spokesman. “Because it’s very difficult to hit a moving target at high speed.”

(One of the reasons Switchblade 300 is more expensive is that it can lock on to moving targets and track them automatically. The same technology may reach FPV kamikazes soon thanks to new AI chips for drones, but at present it is down to operator skill).

Escadrone carry out training themselves, and say some of the best FPV pilots in Ukraine fly their machines. Videos on social media show their skill at hitting pinpoint targets.

“We have seen Pegasus operators fly though windows, garage doors and tank hatches, and even hit the backs of Russian soldiers,” says the spokesman.

The basic Pegasus carries a one-kilo/2.2-pound warhead, effective against personnel and light armor. But Escadrone has bigger weapons to take out heavy tanks, carried by the larger version, which can carry a 2-kilo/five pound PTAB 2.5 anti-tank bomb. This is a fraction of the size of other anti-tank weapons like Javelin, but highly effective against a tank’s weak spots.

“The FPV drone is very maneuverable and it can attack less protected places in the tank,” says the spokesman. “We know that a small FPV drone can destroy a tank like this.”

Escadrone attack drones are already widely used, and the group shared videos on its Telegram channel. You can recognize their drones on social media videos by watermarks or drone names including GOIDA, ZELYA, PEGAS, BAVOVNA, VPN DRON, UJEE and GG 00 – the name depends on who paid for the drones.

The Russians also use home-made FPV attack drones, but these appear to be less sophisticated. The Russian designs are basic racing drones carrying bombs, without the adaptations for military use that Escadrone have achieved.

The important thing is building enough drones to make a difference. Escadrone has already fielded thousands, and the spokesman says they are now making a thousand a month. There are other non-profits turning out large number of FPV drones too, such as Vyriy Drone with their kamikaze Molfar. Escadrone shares their designs and knowledge with various other groups.

Funding for Escadrone comes from Ukrainian volunteers including Serhii Sternenko, and Alexander Scarlat, and Charitable Foundation ‘Monsters Corporation,’ who actively solicit donations.

Fielding large numbers of cheap precision weapons looks like a game changer. Anti-tank weapons like the Javelin can only be supplied in limited quantities, and cannot be wasted on low-value targets. FPV drones can be used against even an individual Russian soldier in a trench — from several miles away.

Escadrone is working on a range of new models which are likely to upgrade all aspects. Details, are unsurprisingly, secret. Things are evolving fast. For example, the Russians are fielding electronic jamming systems to interfere with communications, and groups like Escadrone are changing their designs to counter the countermeasures.

In less than a year, FPV attack drones have gone from an obscure, improvised weapon assembled by enthusiasts to a sophisticated, mass-produced product operated by large numbers of well-trained crews. It is impossible to guess where they will be in a year or two or what impact they will have in future wars.

However, Escadrone has little interest in becoming a major drone producer or taking their products to the international arms market. Once this conflict is over, they will leave weapons to the military.

“After the war, we plan to return to normal civilian life,” says the spokesman. ”No more kamikaze drones.”