In modern warfare, an FPV drone is not a single operator’s tool. It is a team-based weapon system, and its effectiveness depends less on the drone itself than on how well people, roles, and workflows are organized around it. Based on operational experience and lessons emerging from Ukraine, FPV employment has evolved rapidly from improvised solutions to structured, professional teams.
The Core FPV Drone Team
According to Liudvikas Jaškūnas, UAS Analyst at RSI Europe, a functional FPV drone team consists of several critical roles, each with distinct responsibilities.
The pilot is responsible for direct aircraft control using FPV goggles and a controller. Importantly, the pilot does not need to be the most tactically experienced member of the team or maintain situational awareness, as these aspects are handled by other team members. In Ukraine, early pilots were often former FPV racing enthusiasts or gamers with strong manual flying skills. By 2023, however, most pilots already had military training.
The Navigator is the central figure. Monitoring the video feed through a ground station or display station, the navigator guides the pilot and provides real-time instructions. Crucially, the navigator often has access to a second video stream from a reconnaissance drone. This has become increasingly important as armored vehicles have largely withdrawn from the battlefield and infantry targets are harder to detect through a narrow FPV camera view.
“When a reconnaissance drone detects a target, the navigator can guide the pilot using spatial references—‘to the right of that tree’ or ‘behind the building,’” Jaškūnas explains. “The pilot may never see the target directly, but trust in the navigator allows the strike to succeed.”
In practice, the navigator also acts as the team leader. He communicates with the Tactical Operations Center (TOC), receives target data, and translates it into actionable commands for the pilot. This role requires the most experience, spatial awareness, and operational understanding within the team.
The Explosives Engineer prepares the drone for combat: mounting the explosive payload, connecting systems, and ensuring everything functions correctly. During operations from static positions, this role is often the most dangerous, as the engineer must leave cover to work in exposed conditions.
Optional Roles and Signal Relay
A fourth role depends on the operational setup. When operating with a static ground antenna, an additional operator is usually unnecessary—the antenna can be deployed once and left in place.
However, when using an airborne relay drone, a dedicated relay pilot becomes essential. This operator launches, positions, recovers, and re-launches the relay drone, managing batteries and maintaining signal continuity throughout the mission. This is an active role that lasts for the entire operation.
It is important to note that all of these roles describe FPV operations from relatively static rear positions. Mobile operations introduce additional requirements such as camouflage, repositioning, extraction, and vehicle handling. In such cases, a dedicated driver becomes the minimum additional role.
In theory, FPV teams can be reduced in size. In practice, this slows mission tempo and significantly increases the risk of errors. As Jaškūnas notes, until drone swarm technologies are fully mature, one FPV drone equals one full team.
Coordinating six FPV drones does not mean one team operating six systems—it means six complete teams, plus additional coordination at a higher command level.
Enabling Personnel and Fire Support Integration
FPV teams cannot operate in isolation. To acquire targets, they require at least one reconnaissance drone team, typically consisting of two to three personnel depending on the platform. Fixed-wing reconnaissance drones require even more support, including aircraft assembly and catapult setup.
Another critical role is the Fire Support Officer (FSO) within the TOC. In the Ukrainian Armed Forces, specialized drone support officers are emerging, but challenges remain. Officers trained primarily in artillery fire control may lack experience integrating drones into a unified fire support system.
“FPV drones are fire support weapons,” Jaškūnas emphasizes. “Their effectiveness is directly proportional to how well they are integrated into the broader fire support and information-sharing architecture.”
Training Gaps and Capability Development
RSI Europe’s FPV strike team training philosophy utilizes role rotation within the team. As all team members gain core experience in every role, this rotation allows natural specialization to emerge—who pilots best, who navigates best, who is most technically inclined.
However, several capability gaps of such basic training model remain:
- A dedicated explosives engineer course
- A drone technician–repair specialist course, focused on deep technical skills rather than tactics. Such specialists are critical for sustained operations, as drones evolve rapidly and require constant modification. Repair expertise also enables reuse of components from damaged systems.
- A coordinator course, aimed at navigators–team leaders, TOC personnel, and reconnaissance drone leaders. This course would standardize procedures, improve inter-team cooperation, and reduce today’s largely ad hoc coordination.
At present, much of the learning occurs through combat or field tactical exercise experience, informal knowledge sharing, and online resources. In the absence of formal training, this approach enables the execution of tactical missions, but its lack of structure also poses significant risks. Without systematic theoretical and practical training, FPV drones risk remaining loosely connected tools rather than fully integrated elements of a fire support system.
RSI Europe has practical experience not only in preparing fully functional FPV drone operator teams, but also in integrating such capabilities into formal military training frameworks. Lessons learned during the structured expansion of FPV drone training within the Lithuanian Armed Forces are currently being adapted for application in other NATO member states. This approach focuses on standardization, interoperability, and sustainable capability development, ensuring that FPV drone units are integrated as a coherent part of broader fire support and operational planning structures.
For armed forces and training institutions assessing the integration of FPV drone capabilities into existing force structures, RSI Europe is open to professional dialogue and exchange of experience.