Polish youth study in the first drone class above the military

At a Polish military school, youths in military-style uniforms mobbed a 15-year-old classmate, pressuring him to “search for the Russians,” as they hunted for darion stones.

For them it was just a game – but in Poland, the threat seems very real.

Warsaw and NATO scrambled fighter jets last month when they recovered 20 drones they said were seized by Russia, flying through Polish AirSpace. A few were shot and Prime Minister Donald Tark warned his country was coming closer to conflict than at any time since World War II.

It was a good example of NATO’s descent into possible drone attacks, prompting many countries to test their anti-aircraft capabilities.

Just a few days earlier, the military school in Poland Town in the western Polish town of Legnica had started the first drone course, teaching the elite to build and fly the devices.

“When I look at Ukraine, I see that this age of drones is very important,” Bhartosz Ladocha, a 15-year-old student enrolled in the program, told AFP.

Both Russia and Ukraine have used Drones extensively since Moscow invaded in 2022, and are locked in a technological arms race for the edge.

“Drones are new, and I thought it was a promising career, that’s why I wanted to get into it,” Ladini said.

Wearing a combat uniform with a Polish flag in his backpack, he said he “always wanted to join the army”.

– ‘Pioneers’ –

Ladocha and his 17 allies are following the program excessively by the Polish Defense Ministry.

Poland – which will spend 4.8 percent of GDP next year, one of the highest rates in Nato – has created a special Drone Force and will buy $54 million of drones this year.

At the school in Legnica, Founder and Principal Colonel Tomasz Zachariasz told AFP his “students are introducing pioneers” of drone technology.

The morning after the drones went down in Poland, students “quickly came up” to ask what the airSpace violation meant for the classroom, she said.

Their training focuses not only on how to use drones, but also on their role in military strategy.

Although they are not obliged to join the army after graduating from class, many are stationed in the military sector – some, like Tomasz Cieslak, from the parents’ first parents.

“At first, they harassed that I was thinking of joining the army,” said the 15-year-old.

“They suggested various military schools. However, I decided to choose a military school.”

Cieslak became interested in Drones through his Father who used them for work. At the age of 12, he started flying small, “10-gramme drones”, before gradually taking on larger devices.

He also began studying Poland’s turbulent history, learning about the heavy loss of land and human suffering in World War II, when the country was invaded by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

“I started to respect what poles were made in Poland in exile. It really got to me, and I thought that I want to be like them and wait for my country,” said Cieslak.

– ‘defending our country’ –

His main interest is in FPV (First Person Viewing), small commercial devices with a front-mounted camera and controlled remotely by the operator, who usually wears goggles to see what the drone sees what the drone sees.

“The speed is the best. Now that I see that I can fly the drone freely and freely, I can do other lunges, which I like,” he said.

Lukasz Gadomski, Deputy Teandmaster in charge of the Drone curriculum, predicted the training “will bring tangible benefits in the future”.

“There is a shortage of such people, a lack of workers among the youth, a lack of people who have this knowledge and can protect our country in this context.”

He said the school – which was already linking up with a nearby military unit to train its students – was looking at new partnerships, including the Ukrainian army.

But asked about the war in Ukraine, Ladocha jumped up, saying he hadn’t “thought much about it”.

“As for my friends from Ukraine … I felt very sorry because their country, which can fall at any time and is gone at once.”

“But the war itself, I’m not really interesting.”

MMP / JC / RMB / ACH