First international military drone-racing tournament in UK lifts off thanks to HAC
The first military international drone racing tournament to be held in the UK has taken place at Armoury House in the City of London, the home of the Honourable Artillery Company.
The sport of military drone racing is going from strength to strength, with the competition bringing together the biggest number of First Person View (FPV) drone practitioners across the world.
Racing took place over a circuit of inflatable obstacles, on what was normally the cricket pitch, with the drones flying roughly one to two metres off the ground through gates and around flags.
The tournament is not only a chance to test the pilots' skills, but also for international forces to share how they use drones within defence.
In Ukraine drones are playing a pivotal role in the conflict, used for reconnaissance and targeting, providing a critical advantage on the battlefield.
Troops need to be masters of this technology, and drone drone racing is the perfect place to practise.
The competition was organised by Lieutenant Colonel Karl Eze of the Honourable Artillery Company.
He told Forces News: "We decided to organise this, and got all these nations together in one place at one time, because the activity of drone racing has a lot of read across into defence and defence capability.
"So really this puts to the test things like hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, the operator, their ability to react at speed, to be thinking.
"These craft go from 0 to 60 in under a second, top speed of over 100 miles an hour, so really the human is the limiting factor in the ability to fly these around the course."
The physical and mental dexterity required to operate drones at such high speeds can be directly translated into the fast-paced decision-making needed in military scenarios.
But drone racing is not just about piloting, it also encourages technical proficiency in designing, repairing and fine-tuning equipment.
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