Private schools that train drone operators can be much more efficient if they receive orders and funding from the state. It is not as difficult and not as expensive as it seems. Instead, it will bring a colossal effect. Political will is enough to resolve the issue.
In December 2023, Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that Ukraine should produce 1 million drones. The task is ambitious, but in order to use this technological weapon effectively and save thousands of lives of our defenders, we need specialists who can control drones.
That is why the infrastructure for training drone operators is developing so rapidly. Before the full-scale war in Ukraine, there was a single training center where drone operators were trained - the 190th, near Zhytomyr. This was partly done by some drone manufacturers, but there was no permanent system. And at the time of February 24, 2022, unmanned systems were not the basis of the troops - they were not bet on, were not taken seriously.
But when the advantages of drones were fully appreciated and they began to be transferred en masse to the front, another problem arose - there are drones, their effectiveness is proven, but few people know how to operate them, and the Defense Forces were not ready to train the required number of operators. It was then that public initiatives and centers began to emerge, which in various formats cooperated with the army and trained UAV pilots. Today, there are more than three dozen such private schools on the Ukrainian market. They create quality competition for the military training centers for drone operators, created under the Ministry of Defense. But, unlike them, they do not have state funding.
Interviewed representatives of private training centers admit that there is no competition between them. They realize that they are doing a common important thing. Even the price policy was agreed among themselves. So, for example, the Center for UAV Operators "KRUK", the Victory Drones project and the "Drone Army" academy have the same price for training civilians - 16 thousand hryvnias. Military personnel usually receive training at such centers for free. And in order to provide them with a high-quality level of education and training, private schools are forced to seek funding from charitable foundations and volunteer organizations.
Wishes are there, money is not
Ideally, the state represented by the Ministry of Defense should be interested in the existence and development of such private schools, because "military" centers are not capable of training the huge number of operators that the current situation requires. The representatives of the schools themselves note that they work for the benefit of the Armed Forces and by order of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense. They regularly meet with the leaders of the Defense Forces, and they voice their wishes and even make demands. But when it comes to financial security, the talks hit a dead end. A logical question arises: why does the Ministry not pay private training centers for the training of UAV operators, like other state structures that need such specialists - for example, the Ministry of Statistics, the National Police, the State Border Service, the State Emergency Service and others?
Moreover, we are not talking about some cosmic sums. According to Maria Berlinska, the head of the Victory Drones project, the state can compensate private centers for the cost of training, at least partially.
"One trained fighter can save the life of an entire company, fifty or hundreds of people. And its preparation for the state will cost 5-7 thousand hryvnias. Although I do not agree that it should be purely public funding. Schools, for their part, must be included to seek these funds through commercial services, training the civilian population. Many schools successfully implement this," says Ms. Maria.
What is the problem then? According to the director of the National Association of Defense Industry Enterprises of Ukraine (NAUDI), Maksym Polyvyaniy, this is due to the lack of an appropriate regulatory framework that would provide for the possibility of concluding separate contracts for the purchase of training services.
In turn, the executive director of the Kruk UAV pilot training center, Mykyta Gavrylenko, believes that there is no need even for separate laws - sub-legislative acts at the level of the Cabinet of Ministers are sufficient. For example, a joint act between the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Education.
"Ideally, the state should order a certain number and quality of pilots from such schools. Of course, all this must be done according to strict requirements, programs must be agreed, and financed. Because the state is not able to qualitatively educate - without exaggeration - millions of people. And she should delegate it," says Gavrylenko.
The representative of the "Heavenly Eyes" Charitable Foundation Kateryna Chernysh also speaks about the need for financial support from the state. In her opinion, the training of UAV operators is an important function that the state should undertake, but this has not yet happened.
"Financial support from the state is the most important step it could take towards the existing education system. We are still waiting for someone to announce at least a draft state program to support private schools. We desperately need a constructive dialogue between the authorities, volunteers, the army and private schools for training UAV operators, so that everyone can do their job even better for our Ukrainian Victory," says Ms. Kateryna.
Not rivalry, but partnership
Both military and private UAV pilot training centers are doing a common important thing. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Centers under the Ministry of Defense, which receive state funding, are often better equipped, but they are quite "inflexible", because of bureaucratic obstacles, decisions are made for weeks, and under the current conditions, our defenders pay the highest price for such delays. On the other hand, private schools are much more flexible, it is easier for them to introduce something new, to change the directions of training depending on urgent tasks. In addition, private schools can train civilians who can then use these skills in many "peaceful" professions.
According to the head of the Independent Association of Drone Schools, Ihor Kravchenko, military centers could significantly reduce their workload and training time if they cooperated with private companies.
"Private schools could take on the training of people from scratch - weed out someone, and train someone further. And then they would come to the military centers more prepared and experienced, ready for a higher level of professional training and performance of specific tasks. And it would be an excellent conglomerate that should work this way. There shouldn't be any competition between us - only cooperation with a competent approach", - believes Ihor Kravchenko.
Meanwhile, the heads of private centers complain that the Ministry of Defense treats them with a certain skepticism and creates artificial obstacles. For example, they limit the locations and range of flights, refuse to book instructors, do not communicate. So, despite the fact that almost two months have passed since the appointment of Vadym Sukharevskyi as the head of the Unmanned Systems Forces, the head of this type of forces has not found time to talk with representatives of private schools.
Work on a common idea
Interviewed experts agree that in order to scale the process of training drone operators, cooperation between private individuals and the state is needed. The "Drone Army" project initiated by the Ministry of Digital Transformation can be cited as a successful example of such collaboration. To realize the ambitious goal of training 20,000 drone operators, 33 partner schools were involved. According to the Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, this is the case when "money follows the military." That is, the fighter chooses one of 33 schools, and the Drone Army pays for the education.
The National Association of Defense Industry Enterprises of Ukraine (NAUDI) proposed its solution to this issue, which at the beginning of the year, together with UAV manufacturers and training centers for UAV operators, addressed an open letter to the head of the government and the Ministry of Defense. In their opinion, the state should better use the capabilities of private schools for training drone operators, and for this, one of two steps should be taken. Or to make changes to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers dated March 24, 2023 No. 256 "On the implementation of an experimental project on the implementation of defense procurement of domestically produced unmanned systems and means of radio-electronic warfare" so that the state has the opportunity not only to purchase drones, but also to enter into contracts for the provision of services with operator training. Or the second option is to adopt a new resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, which will provide for a contractual form of providing educational services for improving the qualifications (training, retraining) of servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Despite the fact that 8 months have passed, the situation has not moved from the dead point. The Verkhovna Rada's Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence claims that they are more concerned with the production of drones, while the issue of training remains behind bars. However, according to the secretary of the committee, Roman Kostenko, if the new head of the Unmanned Systems Forces, Vadym Sukharevskyi, receives an appropriate initiative, the parliament will certainly support it.
"Private schools function well, but mainly at the expense of volunteer funds or sponsors. There are real professionals there, and it should be used, the state should cooperate with it. These issues need to be studied in a complex way: somewhere the state should close, somewhere manufacturers, somewhere private schools, only then will it function normally," said the secretary of the committee.
According to Mykyta Havrylenko, one must understand the main thing: private schools for training operators are temporary projects that quickly met the acute demand during the war, and after the end of hostilities, most of them will return to their "pre-war" professions.
"There are more than 30 schools operating on the market, and after the war, I think, a maximum of 10 will remain. Some private schools directly say that after the war, we will not do this, we will go to our old jobs. Therefore, now, when drones are critically needed, it is necessary to mobilize efforts with the state as much as possible and work as one team. Because it's not about business, it's about the survival of the nation," says the director of the "Kruk" center.
As an example, Gavrylenko cites the example of Switzerland and neighboring Poland, which provide public funding for private centers where the Terro-Defense Forces are trained. So why shouldn't Ukraine follow this example? After all, such a public-private partnership will speed up the realization of the goal of training a million drone operators. And, in the end, will save thousands of lives.
Victoria Yevtushenko
