The big picture: The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has escalated into a full-blown technological arms race. Both sides are pouring resources into developing cutting-edge military drones and counter-drone systems. But in this high-stakes battle, Ukraine has a new weapon: gamers.
Rally drivers are often naturally great at racing simulation games like Dirt, and vice versa, so you'd think the same would apply to warfare. Indeed, members of Ukraine's elite Typhoon drone unit told Business Insider that they see gamers as potential recruits. However, they also acknowledged the challenges.
Piloting a first-person-view (FPV) drone might seem straightforward on the surface. The headsets are like VR goggles, and the controllers are similar to those of a gaming console. There's even a video game called "Death From Above" that simulates the experience of a Ukrainian drone operator raining hellfire down on Russian forces.
However, in the virtual world, you can just hit reset when things go sideways. In real drone warfare, the consequences are deadly.
"People think flying a military drone is like playing 'Call of Duty,' until they realize there's no restart option," one Typhoon operator told the publication.
The Typhoon unit explains that preparing for a real drone mission is an intricate process of analyzing equipment, anticipated obstacles like jamming, real-time intelligence, and coordinating with commanders. Every flight involves multiple evasive maneuvers and constant adjustments for enemy countermeasures and threats.
As for the Typhoon unit itself, it was officially formed just last year and plays a vital role in Ukraine's National Guard. One of its responsibilities is developing and applying specialized UAV expertise on the battlefield. It does this by combining engineers who can rapidly configure drones with pilots capable of executing complex missions in the chaos of combat.
Despite the challenges mentioned above, the unit sees gamers as invaluable recruits for their lightning-fast reflexes and comfort with virtual environments.
"Gamers make great drone pilots because they are used to fast-moving situations on the screen, just like in real drone operations," Michael, the commander of the unit, stated. "They already have experience making quick decisions, reacting fast, and controlling complex systems, which are all important skills in combat."
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pushing for increased domestic drone production and deployment. Companies and volunteer groups have responded by kicking into high gear, mass-producing relatively cheap drones to fill the gap when Western-supplied artillery runs low.
With more drones comes the need for more pilots, and that gap could potentially be filled by recruiting skilled gamers with their finely tuned reflexes gained from video games.
Image credit: Typhoon
Ukrainian drone unit wants to recruit gamers but warns it's "not like Call of Duty"
