People’s Daily reported that the People’s Liberation Army’s 72nd Group Army has made drone flight control operators a standard billet within combat squads.
“Recent regional conflicts have clearly demonstrated the growing role of drones in modern warfare. Drone operators have become indispensable personnel for militaries around the world,” a senior officer from the group army told reporters. In recent years, the unit has adopted a training model in which the group army prepares instructors, while each brigade leverage those instructors to train their drone operators.
Instructors include both in-house specialists and expert faculty from military academies. The group army has implemented a system of platform-based classification and tiered personnel training, with instruction tailored to different drone types—such as FPV racing drones and aerial photography drones. Operators are divided into three levels—basic, intermediate, and advanced—with training groups adjusted weekly to enable differentiated instruction and a progressive talent-development pipeline. The unit has also established joint talent-development mechanisms with military academies and research institutes, regularly conducting technical exchanges and professional collaboration activities.
Source: People’s Daily, January 19, 2026
http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2026/0119/c1011-40647853.html