Ukraine enlists public in push for high-tech 'Army of Drones'

In an undulating expanse of grassland at the city limits, a pick-up truck kicks up dust as it hurdles downhill, its passengers belting out the theme to 1980s hit comedy "Police Academy ''.

The troops inside are in training to be the tip of the spear in Ukraine's drive to modernise its tactical response on the frontlines of its war with Russia, in a massive expanse of its drone fleet.

One of Europe's poorest countries even before Moscow's invasion on February 24, Ukraine does not have an official drone unit and is relying on the patriotism and hard cash of its civilians for equipment and training.

"Nowadays it's very important to have a drone in each battle unit because this is our eyes in the sky," says Lieutenant Anton Galyashinskiy, 40, an army expert in visual data analytics who is taking part in the exercise.

"One of the most important aspects of training is the safety of using civilian drones in a combat zone," he said.

Drones make it possible for Kyiv to conduct reconnaissance along the 2,470-kilometre front line, spotting Russian forces and equipment and remotely directing artillery fire.

They save Ukrainian lives, but they are expensive and in short supply.

Ukrainians and overseas supporters have already raised around 13.5 million euros  which will go towards an initial 200 military-grade machines equipped with state-of-the art thermographic cameras, GPS and mapping software.

Learning to operate civilian drones takes two weeks.