DoF Briefing: I did Shahed interceptor training so you don’t have to.
Writen by: Amith Ravindar, Engineer, Doves Of Freedom
As part of my role as an engineer at Doves of Freedom (donate here to support our latest fundraiser for Azov), I like to keep not only my engineering skills but also my piloting skills sharp.
I recently had the opportunity to learn how to fly Shahed interceptor drones at a drone school outside of Kyiv, and I jumped at the chance to get my hands on these drones.
Particularly in light of recent events (the Iran war), I thought it would be interesting to share my experience.
It was a 4-day course that was meant to be more of an opportunity to become familiar with how interceptor drones rather than a full-fledged military drone course, but it was still super interesting.
What are interceptor drones?
Interceptor drones are designed to:
- Fly faster and higher than standard FPV drones
- Transition between vertical (quadcopter) and horizontal (airplane-like) flight
- Intercept and destroy aerial targets like Shahed drones
They’re heavier, more powerful, and generally more complex to operate than typical FPV drones.
So now let’s dig into how I learned to fly them!
Day 1
During the first day, the first thing we did was spend a few hours flying and landing normal FPV drones with a weight attached. I hadn’t flown FPV drones in a long time, especially in the sub-zero conditions in Ukraine this year, so this was essential practice.
The interceptor drone itself is heavier than a normal FPV drone, especially due to the larger battery and reinforced frame, so it was important to be able to fly and land a heavier FPV drone first before flying an interceptor. If there’s a warhead attached to the top of the interceptor, the interceptor can be even heavier.
Here is an example of the interceptor drone we flew later on:
Flying drones with weight attached to them can be more difficult because every movement you make with the drone becomes exaggerated due to the weight. Very precise motor control is required to move the drone at slow speeds in enclosed areas without losing control of the drone.
Embarrassingly, this happened to me more than once, but as the day progressed, my piloting quickly progressed as I deftly piloted my drone through the gates of the training center’s challenging obstacle course. The snow and ice made it all the more challenging, but it was a great experience.
Day 2
In conjunction with more weighted FPV flying in the morning, we practiced flying interceptor drones in the Obriy simulator. Obriy is a simulator that can only be acquired through connections to the military.
However, in this simulator, it is possible to fly a full mission before even getting to the battlefield. In our case, we were even able to practice flying interceptors and blowing up simulated Shahed drones with them.
Here’s a picture of me intercepting a Shahed drone at night over Bakhmut using an interceptor in Obriy:
Probably the most valuable practice was in transitioning from flying the drone vertically, like a normal FPV, to flying the drone horizontally, more like an airplane. This involves switching the camera that is used and physically changing the orientation of the drone in flight.
It’s not super difficult, but it definitely takes some getting used to, particularly in terms of the switches that need to be flipped on the controller.
Once we were flying horizontally, we could practice tracking the slower Shahed drones and flying into them from different angles.
When we had our sights set on a Shahed, we practiced initiating our detonator board a certain amount of time before striking the target, so that it could build up enough charge to set off the explosive in the drone. This required some familiarization with the relevant switches on the controller.
Overall, the simulator was a great resource to acquaint ourselves with the nuances of flying interceptor drones without crashing them in a field in real-life.
Day 3
Once we were comfortable flying and landing regular FPV drones and flying the interceptor in Obriy, on the 3rd day, we received a briefing on the ground station used to control the drone and on the characteristics of the drone itself.
We would be flying Sting, one of the most popular interceptor drones on the Ukrainian market, produced by the well-known Ukrainian drone manufacturer Wild Hornets.
After our briefing, we drove out to an open field to start flying.
As soon as we got there, we immediately started setting up the ground station and hooking it up to our ground control module, which looked like a large laptop. The first day, the instructors set up the ground station, and the next day, we did it ourselves to demonstrate our understanding of the system.
Below is an image of our instructors prepping the interceptor drone for flight. The low temperatures meant that we had to take some extra measures to keep the drones operational.
We connected the wires from our ground station to the ground control module in a heated van, which allowed us to connect up our controller and see the video feed. Given that it was -10 degrees Celsius outside, this was a godsend.
Once everything was set up, it was time to start flying.
The first time flying the interceptor drone was slightly anticlimactic, particularly after so much time in the simulator. It was essentially like flying a normal FPV drone. However, when I reached the required altitude and switched the orientation of the drone, I really started to enjoy the experience.
I could see the sun on the horizon over the snow-covered forests and fields, and I really felt like I was an airplane pilot rather than a drone operator. We practiced making gradual movements to fly around the training area and stay away from population centers, while maintaining a certain altitude. I also had an opportunity to play around with the speed of the drone and get a feel for how the drone performed in different situations.
Once I was done with each stint flying, I would have to switch the drone back to normal FPV drone orientation and then land it precisely near our ground station, which was extremely tricky and nerve-wracking.
Perhaps the only downside is that we didn’t have a practice target, but in all fairness, it is difficult to find a functional replica of a Shahed for training purposes.
Day 4
We flew a few times more the next day, practicing replacing the props and the batteries to get some exposure to actually working with the drone on a more technical level. As I mentioned before, this time we set up the ground station completely on our own.
Below is a cool picture I took of a different team testing out a Vampire drone while we were out there.
During our last flight, our instructor attached an electronic ignition cord to the detonation board on our drone, which we could initiate during our flight. I will admit, it was satisfying seeing the fiery flare of the ignition cord in the monitor, with the snowy fields in the background, even if I wasn’t taking out an actual Shahed.
We finished our last day of the course, stopped at Okko for hot dogs, and then headed home. I would be back the next day to continue with an engineering course.
How hard is it to learn how to fly interceptor drones?
From my experience:
- Strong FPV skills are the biggest prerequisite
- The transition to interceptor drones is manageable
- Simulator training dramatically speeds up learning
Personally, I felt that with another week of consistently flying interceptor drones every day, I could probably take down a Shahed or Molniya drone myself, but I may be a bit overconfident :)
Of course, the course was a deeply condensed version of what interceptor operators in the military experience. I assume there would be a longer period of initial practice with FPV drones and then significantly more practice actually flying and servicing the interceptor drones in different conditions and scenarios.
However, I still got the feeling that with strong FPV skills, flying interceptor drones would not be a huge leap.
Just so you know, Doves of Freedom is a registered charity organization in both Ukraine and Canada and staffed by Americans, Brits, and Canadians who have been supporting the Ukrainian military both as members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and as civilians since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022. We supply frontline units with both radio-controlled and fiber optic FPV drones, free of charge.
We’re currently running our biggest ever fundraiser to support the International Battalion of 1st Azov Corps with FPV drones, which you can support here.
You can also follow us on Instagram here to see what we’re up to.
Thanks for reading!
Amith