Intuitive and user-friendly – so soldiers from the 18th Mechanized Division assessed their tested fresh drone systems from Polish companies. The military who checked the civilian unmanned aircraft during the Iron Gate exercise besides praised the simplicity of their construction, the ease of conducting independent repairs and access to spare parts.
Manoeuvring ‘Iron Defender ‘25’ were the largest and most crucial training task of the Polish Army in 2025. The 18th Mechanized Division played a key function in this process, which has its tasks under the code name ‘Iron gate’ performed on a training ground in Orzysz.
Gen. Dyw. Arkadiusz Szkutnik, the commander of the Iron Division, reported that during these exercises many method innovations concerning designation and command were tested. His soldiers besides had the chance to check respective drone systems manufactured by Polish companies. This task was carried out by the 21st Podhalan firearm Brigade.
One of the tested products was Avalon from Under Ant. It's a drone swarm that's programmed with a computer application. – It has the ability to drop parcels of up to 3,5 kg with any content, specified as a first aid kit or weapon elements, as well as loads for land mines," says the commander. He explains that during the Iron Gate, specified a swarm of drones was tested for the first time. – utilizing it, we dropped charges to mimic the way of approach to the enemy – describes Gen. Szkutnik. As he points out, it would not be possible to do this effectively with a single unmanned aircraft. – In this case, 1 operator could send on a programmed mission 12 devices, which are not detected by GPS, and the operator himself was more hard to detect due to the fact that after programming the mission and uploading its plan he could have distanced himself," explains the commander of 18 DZ.
Another strategy tested from the same company was Ocra, which consists of 3 types of drones: exploratory, impact FPV and discharges. – The strategy is very convenient for reconnaissance troops, due to the fact that it is located in 1 small bigger backpack, and utilizing all its capabilities, we can carry out the reconnaissance and demolition of the mark and discharges of various loads – indicated Gen. Szkutnik. It besides stresses the universality of the set, which can be modified depending on the task and needs.
During the exercise, the soldiers besides checked the Eagle OWL drones that JPBC provided for testing. A fewer days ago Deputy Minister Cezary Tomczyk informedthat this modern reconnaissance strategy developed in cooperation with the Military Institute of Engineering Technology was handed over to the Polish Army.
Eagle OWL is simply a universal drone of a larger caliber. It is heavier, but according to the manufacturer's data it can carry loads weighing up to 10 kg over a distance of 20 km, and after installation of the reflection head it can conduct a diagnosis.
Ocra and Eagle OWL systems can besides be equipped with thermo- and night imagination reflection heads. During the Iron Gate, these capabilities were used, for example, to check the masking of optical command stations.
Soldiers who tested drones justice them as intuitive and user-friendly. They stress that after a week–two they were already able to fly independently without the assistance of the service teams sent by the producers. Military officials besides praise the ease of replacing reflection heads and pay attention to the comparatively low price, simplicity of construction, ease of carrying out independent repairs and availability of spare parts.
They besides appreciate that the equipment went straight to them and was prepared in specified a way that it could cooperate with the American ATAK (Android squad Awareness Kit) imaging system, which was utilized by Polish soldiers during the exercises. The image, broadcast, among others, through the starlings, was sent to the command post, so that the surveillance from the drones besides had superiors.
According to the soldiers, the disadvantage during the tests was the necessity to work with unmanned people based on civilian servers. However, until the systems are purchased for the military, for safety reasons, they cannot be plugged into the MON servers.
Tests conducted during the ‘Iron Gate’ exercise are included in military needs and plans of the Ministry of Defence. The government simplifies procedures for purchasing drones and anti-drone systems. With the fresh regulations, the military will rapidly get the latest unmanned vehicles, weapons systems and their means of combating them.
The provisions will let to skip standard tendering procedures in case of acquisition of unmanned systems by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland, which have been positively tested and recommended by the military, and the Minister of Defence agreed to them.
