Joint Learning, Enhanced Drone Capabilities

The Hungarian Defence Forces’s guiding principle regarding drone strategy is that the best way to learn about this rapidly evolving field of modern warfare is through the exchange of ideas. In a domestic context, the HDF’s 1st Drone Pentathlon provided a forum for this; continuing this approach, drone pilots can now learn from one another in an international setting.

“This two-week course provides an opportunity for soldiers to share their own countries’ methods with one another and to encounter procedures that are new to everyone and radically different from what they are used to. This can be beneficial not only in the short term but also in the long term, as we can later utilise the lessons learned here in the development of training programs,” said Major Milán Ronkovics, head of the Unmanned Systems Training Branch at the Special Training Centre of the HDF NCO Academy, summarising the value of the basic course.

At the Csobánka training ground, the participants focused on identifying enemy forces. They first assessed the enemy’s strength and then—as part of the simulation—destroyed them with artillery fire. The trainees then familiarised themselves with one-way drones. These drones carry explosive payloads in real-world conditions and destroy enemy forces upon impact with the target.

“The participants’ backgrounds are very diverse. They have come from nine countries, but that is not even the most remarkable thing; rather, it is the fact that soldiers from a wide variety of positions have gathered for this basic course. Among them are marines, warship crewmembers, infantrymen, IMINT analysts and reconnaissance officers, as well as Special Forces operators. The trainees are very active; they ask a lot of questions and share their knowledge with one another,” said Sergeant First Class Tamás Horváth, an instructor at the Unmanned Systems Training Branch of the Special Training Centre, describing the course’s international atmosphere.

The course was co-organised by the HDF Defence Staff Training Directorate and the European Defence Agency. Lessons learned here will be examined in forthcoming analyses, and the findings will be utilised in the development of drone capabilities.