U.S. Air Force Expands FPV First Person View Drone Training After Ukraine War Lessons.

The U.S. Air Force is rapidly expanding its use of First Person View (FPV) battlefield drones as it adapts to combat lessons from Ukraine, where low-cost unmanned systems have reshaped reconnaissance, precision strikes, and force protection. Airmen from the 820th Base Defense Group recently completed advanced FPV drone training alongside the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division, reinforcing the service's ability to operate in increasingly contested environments as part of the Pentagon's broader drone modernization effort.

The training equips U.S. Air Force Security Forces with combat-relevant FPV capabilities that can improve surveillance, target engagement, and base defense while reducing reliance on more costly systems. The initiative reflects a wider U.S. military shift toward rapidly fielding affordable, attritable drones that are becoming essential for survivability and tactical advantage on the modern battlefield.

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U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Connor Montgomery displays FPV drone goggles during training at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, on July 14, 2026. The Air Force is expanding FPV drone capabilities to strengthen reconnaissance, force protection, and Agile Combat Employment, incorporating lessons from Ukraine's battlefield use of low-cost unmanned systems. (Picture source: U.S. Air Force)

Announced on July 29, 2026, by the 93rd Air Ground Operations Wing at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, the two-week training program reflects the U.S. military's growing effort to institutionalize FPV drone operations across the joint force. As battlefield drones become a defining feature of modern conflicts, the course strengthens force protection, improves reconnaissance capabilities, enhances counter-drone awareness, and supports the U.S. Air Force's Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept for dispersed operations.

Conducted over about 50 hours, the course combined advanced simulator instruction with progressively complex live-flight exercises designed to prepare Airmen for realistic combat scenarios. Training focused on precision manual flight, tactical reconnaissance, navigation through urban and confined terrain, obstacle avoidance, and target engagement, enabling operators to integrate FPV drones into base defense missions while replicating adversary tactics increasingly observed on today's battlefields.

The program began with high-fidelity flight simulators, allowing students to develop precise control skills before transitioning to live aircraft. This approach enables operators to master the demanding manual flying techniques required for FPV systems while minimizing equipment losses during the learning phase. Once qualified, students progressed to increasingly complex missions involving urban environments, narrow structures, confined spaces, and obstacle-rich terrain before successfully conducting precision strikes against designated training targets.

Unlike conventional quadcopters that rely heavily on GPS stabilization and autonomous flight assistance, FPV drones are manually piloted using real-time video transmitted directly from an onboard camera to specialized goggles or displays. This immersive perspective provides exceptional maneuverability, allowing operators to fly through windows, trenches, tunnels, buildings, and dense vegetation with a level of precision that larger unmanned aerial vehicles cannot achieve. These capabilities make FPV drones particularly valuable for reconnaissance, target identification, damage assessment, and force protection in complex terrain.

The course also familiarized U.S. Air Force Airmen with different categories of FPV systems adapted to specific tactical missions. Larger multirotor aircraft can carry heavier payloads or more capable sensor packages, while smaller FPV drones are optimized for close-range reconnaissance, inspection of restricted areas, and navigation inside buildings or defensive positions. This operational flexibility enables commanders to rapidly tailor unmanned aircraft to evolving mission requirements while reducing unnecessary exposure of personnel to hostile fire.

The U.S. Air Force's investment in FPV training reflects one of the most significant tactical revolutions emerging from the Ukraine drone warfare experience. Since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, both Ukrainian and Russian forces have employed tens of thousands of commercially derived FPV drones modified for military use. Costing only a few hundred or several thousand dollars, these systems have successfully destroyed main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled artillery, logistics vehicles, command posts, and fortified defensive positions worth millions of dollars. Their widespread employment has fundamentally changed battlefield economics by allowing relatively inexpensive unmanned aircraft to achieve operational effects once requiring precision-guided missiles or attack helicopters.

Ukraine has also demonstrated that FPV drones are far more than improvised strike weapons. They now perform reconnaissance, artillery spotting, battle damage assessment, electronic warfare support, logistics support, and close infantry support. Their persistent presence over the battlefield has forced both armies to redesign tactics, camouflage techniques, electronic warfare procedures, and troop movements, making unmanned aircraft a constant factor in virtually every tactical engagement.

The conflicts across the Middle East have reinforced these lessons. Iranian-backed armed groups, including the Houthis in Yemen and militia organizations operating in Iraq and Syria, have increasingly relied on low-cost unmanned aircraft to threaten military installations, logistics hubs, and critical infrastructure. Israel's extensive employment of tactical drones for intelligence gathering, surveillance, and precision operations has likewise demonstrated the operational value of highly maneuverable unmanned systems capable of supporting military operations in dense urban environments while minimizing risk to personnel.

Together, these conflicts have convinced military planners that inexpensive battlefield drones are no longer niche capabilities but essential components of future warfare. As a result, the Pentagon has significantly expanded experimentation, procurement, and training involving small unmanned aircraft while accelerating the development of doctrine covering both offensive drone employment and counter-drone operations.

The U.S. Army has been at the forefront of this transformation, expanding FPV drone instruction within combat formations, incorporating unmanned systems into major training exercises, and evaluating new concepts for multidomain operations. The Marine Corps has similarly increased investment in small tactical drones supporting distributed operations, while U.S. Special Operations Command continues evaluating commercially derived FPV systems for reconnaissance and precision strike missions. The Air Force's decision to integrate dedicated FPV instruction into Security Forces training demonstrates that these capabilities are now considered critical for installation defense rather than assets reserved exclusively for frontline combat units.

This evolution also supports the U.S. Department of Defense's broader effort to field large numbers of affordable autonomous systems capable of operating alongside traditional military equipment. The Pentagon's wider drone strategy, including initiatives to rapidly expand production and deployment of attritable unmanned systems, recognizes that future conflicts will likely require the mass employment of inexpensive drones capable of overwhelming enemy defenses, collecting intelligence, and supporting distributed operations.

For U.S. Air Force Security Forces, FPV drones provide operational advantages extending well beyond conventional surveillance. They can rapidly inspect airfields following missile or drone attacks, monitor installation perimeters, investigate suspected intrusions, support convoy security, assess damage to critical infrastructure, and provide real-time situational awareness without exposing personnel to unnecessary danger. Such capabilities are particularly valuable under the Air Force's Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept, which relies on dispersed operating locations capable of maintaining combat operations despite enemy long-range precision strikes.

The joint training conducted with the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division also illustrates the growing importance of interoperability in the development of small unmanned aircraft capabilities. By sharing operational knowledge and standardized procedures across the Army and Air Force, the U.S. military is building common tactics for employing battlefield drones in support of joint operations, improving coordination between ground and air components in increasingly contested operational environments.

Perhaps more importantly, the course enables U.S. Air Force Airmen to better understand the capabilities and limitations of the FPV systems they may encounter during future deployments. Modern military forces must be prepared not only to operate battlefield drones but also to detect, counter, and survive against adversary unmanned aircraft. Integrating FPV systems into routine training therefore strengthens both offensive employment and defensive preparedness, improving overall force resilience.

The expansion of FPV drone instruction reflects a broader doctrinal transformation taking place across the U.S. Department of War/Defense. Experience from Ukraine and the Middle East has demonstrated that mass-produced, low-cost battlefield drones are reshaping the economics of warfare by delivering precision effects at a fraction of the cost of traditional weapon systems. As the Pentagon prepares for potential high-intensity operations against technologically advanced competitors such as China or Russia, the ability of U.S. Air Force Security Forces to employ, integrate, and defend against FPV drones will become increasingly important for base survivability, force protection, and multidomain operations. Rather than representing an experimental capability, U.S. Air Force FPV drones are rapidly becoming an integral element of Pentagon modernization, ensuring that future air bases remain operational and defended in an era increasingly defined by autonomous and unmanned systems.

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Written by Alain Servaes – Chief Editor, Army Recognition Group
Alain Servaes is a former infantry non-commissioned officer and the founder of Army Recognition. With over 20 years in defense journalism, he provides expert analysis on military equipment, NATO operations, and the global defense industry.