Ukrainian citizens who own drones are being asked to form a volunteer drone force to help their country repel the Russian invasion.
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"Kyiv needs you and your drone at this moment of fury!" read a Facebook post late last week from the Ukrainian military, calling for citizens to donate hobby drones and to volunteer as experienced pilots to operate them.
One retailer said its entire stock of some 300 drones made by Chinese company DJI has been dispersed for the cause. Others are working to get more drones across the border from friends and colleagues in Poland and elsewhere in Europe.
"Why are we doing this? We have no other choice. This is our land, our home," said Denys Sushko, head of operations at Kyiv-based industrial drone technology company DroneUA, which before the war was helping to provide drone services to farmers and energy companies.
Unlike the much larger Turkish-built combat drones that Ukraine has in its arsenal, off-the-shelf consumer drones aren't much use as weapons -- but they can be powerful reconnaissance tools. Civilians have been using the aerial cameras to track Russian convoys and then relay the images and GPS coordinates to Ukrainian troops. Some of the machines have night vision and heat sensors.
But there's a downside: DJI, the leading provider of consumer drones in Ukraine and around the world, provides a tool that can easily pinpoint the location of an inexperienced drone operator.
Drone dealer Taras Troiak said DJI has been sending mixed signals about whether it's providing preferential access to -- or disabling -- its drone detection platform AeroScope.
In the meantime, drone experts, of which there's a thriving community in Ukraine, have e been doing whatever they can to teach operators how to protect their whereabouts.
A public drone-focused Facebook group administered by Troiak counts more than 15,000 members who have been trading tips about how to assist Ukrainian troops.
"The risk to civilian drone operators inside Ukraine is still great," said Australian drone security expert Mike Monnik. "Locating the operator's location could result in directed missile fire, given what we've seen in the fighting so far. It's no longer rules of engagement as we have had in previous conflicts." In recent days, Russian-language channels on the messaging app Telegram have featured discussions on ways to find Ukrainian drones, Monnik said.
Australian Associated Press
