Drone training in the Bundesheer: Army school in Wiener Neustadt trains dozens of drone operators

For the Austrian Armed Forces (Bundesheer), the drone age begins with drone training: dozens of drone operators are currently being trained at the Army Troops School (Heerestruppenschule) in Wiener Neustadt. The first tactical drones are only due to arrive afterwards, at the end of the year.

The setting is Flugfeld West in Wiener Neustadt, a military site also used for civil purposes. Its north-westernmost part, directly opposite the Flugfeld barracks, is normally home to the Wiener Neustadt model flying club. Today and over the coming days, the site belongs to the Bundesheer alone – and to the wind.

A fresh breeze blows across the site. Wrapped in thick jackets and caps, around 20 soldiers spread out in several groups a few metres from a gravel path. Behind them, a helicopter passes over the headquarters of the police special unit Einsatzkommando Cobra, also right next to the airfield. Despite the wind, the soldiers successfully get their drones airborne.

A DJI marked as an Austrian military aircraft was procured specifically for the training. With the typical whirr of such small drones, it slowly climbs. The remote control is held by Master Sergeant David Frühwirth of Jägerbataillon 19 from Güssing. He carefully guides it upwards metre by metre, holds it hovering and then flies circles and figures of eight. “It's going quite well today, much more precisely than at the beginning,” he says. “In the first few days here, my eights were more like circles, and the circles angular and far too elongated.”

The course run by the Army Troops School in Wiener Neustadt lasts two weeks. Alongside flying practice, the programme includes a lot of theory, legal content and general topics. “After all, you are operating in civil airspace, so there are a number of rules to observe,” explains Ilhan Simsek, an NCO with Reconnaissance and Artillery Battalion 3.

His interest in drones started early: Simsek completed his drone operator training a year ago and is now a flight instructor himself – and he clearly enjoys working with the small aircraft. “For me there is nothing better,” he says. “When I heard that the Bundesheer was looking for volunteers for training as drone operators and then as flight instructors, I knew immediately that I wanted to be part of it – after all, flying had always been my dream.”

Drone training on the snowball principle

Once the current course in Wiener Neustadt is completed, the Bundesheer will have more than 20 new drone operators. In the coming months they are to be trained as instructors and then pass on their knowledge in their battalions on the snowball principle. Lieutenant Colonel Hartmuth Ziegler is responsible for all training at the Army Troops School: “The aim is to get several hundred drone operators this way within a very short time.” The Bundesheer will need them soon.

“The aim is for us
to train several hundred
drone operators
within a very short time.”
Lieutenant Colonel Hartmuth Ziegler

According to Lieutenant Colonel Ziegler, the type of tactical drone should be decided this year – provided everything goes to plan. These are rapidly deployable, lightweight micro drones with a short range for reconnaissance and surveillance. Initially, 300 to 500 systems are likely to be procured; the first could arrive by the end of the year.

Initially, the systems are intended for close reconnaissance and force protection at platoon level (infantry/armour/mechanised infantry), for reconnaissance at section level and for special tasks in the military police, CBRN defence troops and engineers. Further areas of use are to follow later, as are additional and larger drones. “A lot is happening in procurement right now,” says Ziegler, who years ago played a key role in introducing the Tracker drone. “The Tracker was intended from the outset as a test platform and fulfilled that role well. It gave us valuable experience that now helps us greatly with the next steps in the drone world.”

Out on the airfield, Sergeant Simsek nods approvingly to his flight students. “Well done,” he says, “time to move back to the Flugfeld barracks.” For the course, the Army Troops School is quartered at the home of the Jagdkommando (Austrian special operations forces), where another theory block follows. “It is quite demanding,” admits Master Sergeant David Frühwirth. He still enjoys the training. “This is a completely new field, not only for me but for the entire Bundesheer, and I am simply extremely happy to be part of it. It is great fun.”