Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Max Zander
00:30 Vada, Drone Operator
03:04 Konungr, Drone Pilot

Script:

This is one of Ukraine’s new, big drones. It’s called Nemesis, and its operators say it’s a major step forward in drone development.

It can travel up to 30 KM. Under the cover of darkness, the operators use the infrared camera to find targets behind enemy lines and drop bombs on them.

Rather than radio-based communications, it has a starlink internet connection.

0.28
+++SOT Vada, Drone Operator+++ ENGL
“The advantage is that Russian cannot jam this connectivity at the moment and I hope it will be so in the future.”

0.42
It also means operators can practically work from home.

0.47
+++SOT VADA, Drone Operator+++ ENGL … the pilots can be located from anywhere, you just need a good connectivity, internet connection, just a perfect internet connection so you can control.

0.58
+++Speaker MAX+++
So a pilot could for example stay in Kyiv or Lviv and fly something in eastern Ukraine?

1.04
+++SOT VADA+++ ((NO INSERT))
“Exactly.”

1.05
((let’s try following: Vada Coffee, kittens chilling, flower))
Vada’s ground crew have to be near the frontline, to set up the drones, arm them after every run. From nightfall to the early morning.

Tonight they’re planning on mining the roads.
They set up 10 to 15 KM away from the zero line.
Close enough to reach targets behind enemy lines.

The pilots are far from the action. If this looks like a dorm room, it kind of is. During the day they use the kit for gaming. At night, they operate a sophisticated military operation.

+++ATMO+++
While Bit navigates, Konungr pilots the drone.

1.54
+++ SOT Konungr ((NO INSERT))+++ “The main coordination is handled by the navigator. They liaise with other coordinators and crews. The pilot focuses on flying and delivering the payload to the target and returning.”

2.21
Towards the front - dragons’ teeth anti-tank fortifications are just dots on the screen.
At the target area they drop anti tank mines. First one … then another.

2.40
+++ SOT Konungr ((NO INSERT))+++ “If it’s a zone of interest where they’re trying to break through, a few missions can leave the area littered with burned-out vehicles, blocking their path.”

3.03
Konungr says working like this beats using the Vampire drones, where crews sit all together in a forward trench line.

3.13
+++SOT Konungr, Drone Pilot++
“If Russian occupation forces pinpoint their exact location, they target it with everything they have, making it very unsafe. In terms of safety, the Nemesis is much safer and more convenient.
”

3.34
Ukraine’s tech has turned bedrooms far from the frontlines into war rooms — and gamers, engineers and IT specialists into crucial members of the war machine.

+++END+++