Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1536266
center. Technically, the whole area is enemy territory and we're never truly safe, but good prep and prior recon let us operate with relative freedom. Most importantly: "this ain't our first rodeo." We park the vehicle in a forest clearing, trying to get as far under the canopy as possible. Camouflaging from other drones is second nature – we often look for other drone operators' vehicles ourselves. We know how they think, how far they leave their cars, how they hide them. Drone ops vs drone ops is a bit like sniper vs sniper. Same gear, same procedures – it's all about who does it better. We leave the Jeep and proceed on foot through the ravine. Dressed in civvies, we look like four guys planning to get properly hammered in a field – or rather, sorry – we look like four men in their prime out for a cultured day outdoors. If we had more time and resources, we'd prefer to be dressed as farmers, forest workers or ditch diggers. We don't even have bikes to fake a cycling trip. Luckily, the route we picked is perfect. The forest, steep ravine walls, and waist-high nettles swallow us up. On the other side: a plowed field, some fruit bushes, and a few apple trees. We set up a temporary flight position. No camo nets, nothing – we're flying YOLO-style, but that means we can also take off much faster – we're running light. Marcel's even in shorts (which he regretted right after pushing through the nettles). The first flight of the drone squad always means checking your own position – if anything is closing in, how visible you are from above, how takeoff works, how low-level flight feels. Then a quick range test – how it flies from here, any obstructions, any interference. Next, we confirm visual contact (well, drone contact: we can see them perfectly, they can't see us at all) with our main group infiltrating a few kilometers away. Then we locate our bike patrol and try to find our two agents already operating from inside the town we're guiding the saboteurs into. TRAINING