British soldiers destined to aid Ukraine‘s war effort are facing a fearsome foe closer to home – health and safety rules that hamper their training for drone warfare.
Troops have been told to stop flying drones that weigh more than 250g (9oz) – the weight of a cucumber – over their comrades while training on Salisbury Plain, even if they are in heavily armoured tanks at the time.
They have also been prevented from using signal-jamming equipment to stop drone pilots controlling the deadly devices due to fears it might interfere with satnavs and other gadgets used by residents near the Wiltshire site.
It has prompted concerns that troops at the base will be under-prepared when dispatched to the Russian border to help Volodymyr Zelensky‘s soldiers defend their homeland.
Labour MP Fred Thomas, who sits on the Commons’ Defence Committee, said: ‘British soldiers who are deploying as part of a deterrence force to places like Estonia and eastern Europe are going out without the kind of training and capability that is completely bog-standard in warfare now, whether it is in the Middle East or in Ukraine.’
‘They are taking steps to try to protect themselves by going online and buying kit to then tinker around with, to see if they can jam frequencies themselves,’ he told the Financial Times.
According to the newspaper, soldiers complained they had to make repeated requests to the Military Aviation Authority – part of the Ministry of Defence – for permission to fly a drone over a tank during a training exercise in March.
This was despite the tank not having any personnel inside at the time. Rules are in place to stop the devices from being flown near airports, buildings or above members of the public.
British soldiers destined to aid Ukraine ‘s war effort are facing a fearsome foe closer to home – health and safety rules that hamper their training for drone warfare
Troops have been told to stop flying drones that weigh more than 250g (9oz) – the weight of a cucumber – over their comrades while training on Salisbury Plain
Both Russian and Ukrainian troops jam radio control frequencies and video links between drones and pilots to down the devices
They were cited as the reason why soldiers had been prevented from practising electronic warfare, including using signals data to jam drones.
But drones have become a crucial facet of modern warfare. Both Russian and Ukrainian troops jam radio control frequencies and video links between drones and pilots to down the devices.
Last month Defence Secretary John Healey announced that Britain would send hundreds of thousands of drones to the Ukrainian frontline as part of a £450million aid package.
The devices being supplied include ‘first-person view’ or FPV drones, to attack targets, and aerial devices, which can drop explosives on Russian positions.
These types of drones are reported to be responsible for 60 to 70 per cent of damage caused to Russian equipment.
But there are concerns that a lack of ‘real-life’ training will restrict British soldiers’ ability when they reach the front-line.
An MoD spokesman said: ‘While operating within the UK, it’s right that we balance safety with the need to train, innovate and operate new drone systems. To protect operational security and non-military environments, people would also expect us to ensure that electronic warfare capabilities have some restrictions.’
