contemporary military drone operators

A military drone operator performs his duties from a remote control room, while silently reconciling his role as a father with his role as a solider.

A day in the life of a Drone operator.

We see impressive videos of the work of drone operators in the media every day. The painstaking work that is done to prepare for it is usually left behind the scenes. And we are talking not just about organizing the flight, but also such trivial things as, for instance, proper arrangement of positions. A well-dug shelter saves lives - this rule is the same both for infantry and for drone pilots. One day in the life of the strike drone unit of the 47th Magura Separate Mechanised Brigade involves digging trenches, joking, combat missions, eating sandwiches under shelling, and digging trenches again. Because the better a fighted digs, the longer he lives.

A rookie Air Force drone pilot finds himself increasingly attached to a target he watches from halfway around the world.

Drones. These unmanned flying robots–some as large as jumbo jets, others as small as birds–do things straight out of science fiction. Much of what it takes to get these robotic airplanes to fly, sense, and kill has remained secret. But now, with rare access to drone engineers and those who fly them for the U.S. military, NOVA reveals the amazing technologies that make drones so powerful as we see how a remotely-piloted drone strike looks and feels from inside the command center. From cameras that can capture every detail of an entire city at a glance to swarming robots that can make decisions on their own to giant air frames that can stay aloft for days on end, drones are changing our relationship to war, surveillance, and each other. And it's just the beginning. Discover the cutting edge technologies that are propelling us toward a new chapter in aviation history as NOVA gets ready for "Rise of the Drones."

Drones begins in the Nevada desert, where new girl Sue Lawson joins airman Jack in a hot, windowless bunker from which they manoeuvre unmanned drones across the plains of Afghanistan. Their first day at work is awkward but polite, with Jack all too aware of Sue’s privileged status as daughter of a well-respected general. This, however, will be no ordinary mission: as they train their sights on an unarmed terrorist suspect, a power struggle erupts between the smart, sophisticated Sue and the dogged, blue-collar Jack.

A young Air Force drone pilot struggles to cope with the daily commute between his suburban family life in America and the war he fights by remote control.

During his last morning in Belgrade, a military drone reflects on his wasted existence as a drone out of combat, while flying on autopilot to a couple having sex, a route his previous operator would take to spy on them.

A mercenary is tasked with killing Rab Freedman - a drone who seeks to unionise drones against the mega-corporations who enslave them.