Observation from the Barracks | Target Drones Hone the Sword: Serving as the "Whetstone" of the Open Sky

Only for That One "Blossoming" in the Sky

■ Gao Zhenming, PLA Daily Correspondent Qu Kaiming

On the exercise and training ground, gun barrels raised high toward the sky, a live-fire exercise by a brigade of the 83rd Group Army was about to begin. Staff Sergeant Second Class Chen Tifeng, assigned to the target support detachment responsible for drone support, stood watch at the control panel, eyes fixed on the parameters displayed on the screen.

In air defense system operations, target drones are an indispensable "adversary." The air defense blade is sharpened on the exercise and training ground, and the target support detachment is the "whetstone" of the open sky.

"Target drone, launch!" On receiving the order, Chen Tifeng pressed the button, and the drone screamed into the sky, simulating an "enemy" surprise attack. Before long, the air defense detachment successfully locked onto the target and rapidly adjusted the gun barrels.

"Long burst, fire!" With a command from the position, multiple gun barrels simultaneously spat tongues of flame, and shells tore through the air toward the drone. In the billowing gunsmoke, the gunners' cheeks were flushed red by the firelight.

Moments later, a muffled explosion came from the sky, and the drone turned into a ball of flame and slowly fell. Cheers erupted across the position.

At the same time, Chen Tifeng and his comrades shouldered their tool bags and immediately headed for the drone's crash site. "Recovering the drone and inspecting the damage allows us to salvage usable components and also provides a reference for follow-on support," Chen Tifeng said, wiping the dust from his face as he spoke to the reporter.

Where the drone wreckage fell was a stretch of desolate Gobi desert. The soldiers followed the positioning signal, picking their way over gravel, and before long spotted a charred black shape in the distance. The drone lay quietly on the ground, its fuselage still reeking of acrid gunsmoke.

The wing had been struck by shells and the fuselage was covered in scratches, but the engine section was intact and still had salvage value. Chen Tifeng carefully cleared away the rubble and weeds around the drone to prevent sharp stones from scraping the remaining components, while reminding the younger soldiers: "Watch your movements — shut off the onboard power first, then protect the air intake!"

Once sand and dust enter a drone engine's air intake, it easily causes cylinder wear and component failure, wasting parts that could otherwise be recovered. The detachment personnel divided up the work: some gently wiped the air intake with cloths, carefully cleaned off loose dust, and then covered it with protective fabric; some bent down to disassemble the less-damaged fuselage components, inspecting each one to determine whether it was intact and sorting usable parts into dedicated storage bags; some carefully cleaned the dust and shell marks from the drone's surface, recording the location and extent of damage to collect data for subsequent drone maintenance and parameter adjustment…

As the excitement on the position gradually subsided and other detachments withdrew from the exercise and training ground one after another, the Gobi desert returned to silence — only the target support detachment remained busy amid the swirling dust.

In the setting sun, the shadows of Chen Tifeng and his comrades stretched long behind them. The daily routine of these soldiers holds no heart-stopping moments, only the endless cycle of rushing about and holding the line. As the "whetstone" of the open sky, they have never stood in the spotlight, yet they have always been an indispensable link in the generation of combat capability for air defense forces.

The footsteps they never cease to take are for the sake of waiting for that one "blossoming" of flame in the sky; every piece of drone wreckage they collect bears the quiet honor of an ordinary post.

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Target Drones Hone the Sword: Serving as the "Whetstone" of the Open Sky

■ Li Qianqian, Gao Zhenming, PLA Daily Correspondent Qu Kaiming

Target drone taking off. Photo by Jiang Zhenliang

In the sky, the target drone soars through the clouds, wings spread wide. On the ground, fingers dance across controls, making precise adjustments.

Every precise strike on the exercise and training ground depends on the seamless cooperation of the target drone. For the officers and soldiers of the target support detachment of a brigade of the 83rd Group Army, keeping company with drones and working with data is the most ordinary of daily routines.

When a missile cleaves the sky and strikes its target with precision, people are often awed by the instant the flames blossom — yet they do not know that far from the launch position, a group of people are silently watching over every ascent and every flight path of the target drone.

The target drone may seem ordinary, yet it carries a unique mission; the officers and soldiers responsible for its support are plain and tenacious. Through one smooth flight after another, they sharpen the long sword in the open sky, contributing their own light and heat to the cause of strengthening the military.

Patience

Every step forward is a matter of using perseverance to overcome fatigue and temper oneself

Watching the red dot on the screen disappear, Staff Sergeant Second Class Chen Tifeng raised his hand and pressed the earpiece on his head. Through the crackle of static, a burst of jubilant cheering reached his ears:

"Hit! Hit! It 'bloomed' in the air — Squad Leader Chen, you've all worked hard!"

Hearing those words, Chen Tifeng's tense shoulders slowly relaxed. He let out a long breath and carefully picked up his pen to write down the details of this support mission in the flight log.

For Chen Tifeng, ensuring "zero errors" in drone flight support is a responsibility weightier than Mount Tai. "The target drone is like a weather vane for realistic training — it carries the important responsibility of providing air defense forces with precise simulated targets and helping to improve their real-combat capabilities," he told the reporter.

Drone launches demand precision, and composure during operations is indispensable. Chen Tifeng still remembers a mission from years ago when the primary operator was suddenly absent and he, having studied the role for some time, stepped up to fill the gap.

It was Chen Tifeng's first time standing watch independently. Faced with the complex information on the control panel, he was not timely enough in reporting data, his commands were not clear enough, and the transmission of instructions with the remote-control operator was not smooth — he felt acutely anxious. During the mission, a drone in a dive urgently needed to gain altitude, and it was not until the drone had entered a dangerous altitude that Chen Tifeng finished reporting the flight data. Fortunately, the remote-control operator reacted quickly and adjusted immediately, saving the drone from crashing.

This experience made Chen Tifeng realize: "To forge the patience to stay composed in any situation, you must train your professional skills until they are hard and strong." From then on, after every flight training session, he would repeatedly replay the flight data and recite the reporting commands over and over, building muscle memory through continuous practice, until he had finally honed the calm and fluid emergency techniques he needed.

For aircraft launch assistant Wang Zhenguang, holding his post means enduring the hardship of wind and rain.

At a coastal range, the weather was changeable. That day, all the drones had been fully calibrated, and Wang Zhenguang and his comrades stood by on site, ready and waiting. Then, without warning, a violent wind swept in carrying pelting rain that hammered against the fuselages.

To protect the drone about to take off, Wang Zhenguang quickly stripped off his combat uniform top, rushed to the drone's side, and used his body and jacket to shield the key components from the raging wind and rain as best he could. The seconds ticked by, and only after his comrades had firmly secured the rain cover over the drone did Wang Zhenguang lower his arms — which he had been holding up the whole time — and put away the jacket he had used as a rain shield.

When he returned to the tent, water was still dripping from his hair. Wang Zhenguang found that he was soaked through, his combat boots were caked with mud, and his arms were stiff and aching.

"Protecting the drone is my duty. No matter how fierce the wind and rain, I will complete the mission," Wang Zhenguang said.

Comrades who know Wang Zhenguang well know that he loves sports, especially running. Whether in the early morning or during breaks in training, his running figure can often be seen on the track. For Wang Zhenguang, running is not only physical conditioning but also a contest with himself.

"In my view, running and drone support are sometimes very similar," Wang Zhenguang said. "Every step forward is a matter of using perseverance to overcome fatigue and temper oneself."

The perseverance of running has helped Wang Zhenguang better understand the steadfastness required at his post. On the flyleaf of his notebook, he wrote: "Every minute and second spent holding the combat position must be used to accumulate strength for combat capability."

Not only Wang Zhenguang — every officer and soldier in the target support detachment is putting this weighty commitment into practice through day-after-day action.

Perseverance

Only by checking every unremarkable detail can you guard every segment of the flight path

"The pitot tube looks unremarkable, but it is a critical component for signal transmission in the drone…" Inside the drone repair workshop, Chen Tifeng held up a cracked pitot tube and explained it to the young soldiers beside him.

Drone support missions are often conducted in harsh environments such as desert and Gobi terrain. Drone components are easily damaged and signals are easily disrupted; any single oversight could cause the drone to lose control and affect the exercise mission.

The cracked pitot tube in his hand is a constant reminder to Chen Tifeng that executing support missions requires unwavering perseverance.

He still remembers that late autumn when the brigade went to the Gobi to conduct live-fire exercises. Shortly after one drone became airborne, it suddenly showed abnormal data and was forced to make an emergency landing. Chen Tifeng was the first to reach the drone, crouching down to assess the situation.

He swiftly removed the drone's outer casing and carried out a series of diagnostic checks, finally pinpointing the root cause: the pitot tube had been improperly handled during installation, was compressed and damaged, and could not withstand the impact of the airflow after takeoff, causing it to crack and interrupting signal transmission.

"A small pitot tube takes only a few minutes to install, but troubleshooting the fault takes several times as long," Chen Tifeng said. Afterward, he kept the cracked pitot tube in his breast pocket and carried it with him at all times. This small component serves as a warning: to properly support a drone, you must understand the characteristics of every component, and there is no room for the slightest carelessness.

"There are no 'shortcuts' in drone support. Only by checking every unremarkable detail on every mission can you guard every segment of the flight path," he told the younger soldiers.

For Detachment Commander Zheng Jincheng, maintaining perseverance means completing every mission and meeting every challenge with solid effort, no matter what difficulties arise.

One year, the brigade went to a high-altitude area to participate in exercises and training. It was the first time Zheng Jincheng had led a team to a high-altitude area to execute a support mission, and with no established experience to draw on, everything had to be figured out from scratch.

The low air pressure and complex air currents of high-altitude areas posed enormous challenges to the support work. Some could not help but waver: "The high-altitude environment is special — the drone has been calibrated multiple times and still can't meet the standard. Why don't we ask the manufacturer's personnel to come and service it first, and then we can conduct training afterward?" Hearing this, Zheng Jincheng said sternly: "The exercise and training mission brooks no delay. If we were actually on the battlefield, would we wait for the manufacturer to arrive before fighting?"

"The high-altitude environment is special, but as long as we understand how the environment affects the drone's power, signals, and flight path and make precise parameter adjustments, there is no problem we cannot solve." With that, he led the soldiers in burying themselves in reference materials, feeling their way forward step by step and optimizing bit by bit.

During that period, Zheng Jincheng worked overtime continuously. During the day, he led everyone in repeated test flights and parameter adjustments in the field; at night, he organized after-action reviews and optimized the plan for the following day. Driven by Zheng Jincheng's example, the detachment personnel pooled their efforts to tackle the problem and gradually worked out the operational techniques for high-altitude drone support.

On the day of the exercise, the first drone to take off experienced slight power insufficiency and speed fluctuation. The young operators were somewhat flustered. Zheng Jincheng stood beside the control console and said in a steady voice: "Stay calm. Follow the procedures we practiced in advance and adjust slowly."

Under his direction, everyone quickly calmed down and worked in close coordination. The remote-control operator made fine adjustments to the drone's attitude; the telemetry operator kept a constant watch on signal transmission throughout… The drone quickly stabilized, and the mission was ultimately completed successfully. Through the efforts of the detachment personnel, they successfully overcame the technical challenges of high-altitude drone support.

Unity of Purpose

Drone support is not any one person's affair — every link is indispensable

Altitude, air pressure, wind speed… For a drone in the sky, every one of these factors bears on its flight status. And from the moment a drone becomes airborne to the moment it safely returns, the vigilance of every combat position is of critical importance.

What engine operator Jiang Zebing most hopes to hear is the continuous, steady roar of the engine. This means the engine speed is stable within the prescribed range and is the prerequisite for the drone's safe takeoff. "The engine is the heart of the drone. Once it cuts out in the air and loses power, it not only affects the mission but also renders all the efforts of the other comrades futile," he said.

As the flight control system operator, Wang Kai's job is to calibrate the onboard parameters before the drone takes off and to conduct real-time monitoring and emergency fine-tuning after takeoff. "I am responsible for calibrating parameters, the remote-control operator is responsible for controlling the heading, the engine operator is responsible for checking components…" For him, drone support is not any one person's affair — every link is indispensable.

During rest periods, Wang Kai enjoys sweating it out with his comrades on the basketball court. In his mind, basketball and drone support share a common underlying logic.

"Basketball requires teammates to cooperate with tacit understanding to complete every link — passing, screening, defending, shooting; launching a drone likewise requires seamless coordination among specialized positions such as remote control, power inspection, and signal calibration," Wang Kai said. "That kind of tacit understanding is worked out through day-after-day repetitive practice."

Wang Kai still remembers how, on the court, he and his comrades went from initial poor coordination and frequent mistakes to eventually being able to grasp each other's intentions with a single glance — a process that took countless training sessions to achieve. They brought that same tenacity to their posts: in every mission and every exercise, they continuously summed up experience and identified gaps through cooperation. To make parameter calibration and heading control link up more smoothly, and to make power inspection and emergency response more efficient, they rehearsed their coordination and refined their plans again and again — they have lost count of how many days and nights passed, how much sweat was shed.

"Cooperation is not achieved overnight. Every practice session, every instance of working together, is a step toward completing the mission better," Wang Kai said.

Not long ago, an unexpected incident occurred during a training session: the drone's positioning signal was cut off and the telemetry link went silent. For a moment, remote-control operator Yang Jiamin was at a loss.

"Don't panic!" Beside him, telemetry operator Chen Qian rapidly pulled up the flight parameters; Wang Kai immediately reviewed the flight trajectory and cross-checked the historical parameter records. The detachment personnel quickly activated the emergency plan, and Yang Jiamin also calmed down, working with the other operators, each performing their own duties in efficient coordination.

As Chen Qian calculated the drone's approximate position, Yang Jiamin kept his eyes fixed on the control console and precisely adjusted the control parameters; aircraft launch assistant Wang Zhenguang simultaneously reported the handling progress to the command post. Through everyone's concerted effort, the drone's position was successfully locked. Before long, the drone re-entered its planned flight path and continued flying as scheduled.

Outside the shelter vehicle, wind and sand swirled freely; inside, the soldiers let out a long collective breath and raised their hands to wipe the sweat from their foreheads. Wang Kai and several comrades exchanged smiles, and a sense of achievement from fighting side by side welled up within them.

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Eyewitness Account

Drone Support Has No Trivial Matters

■ Staff Sergeant Second Class Chen Tifeng

Instructor conducting basic drone knowledge instruction. Photo by Wang Yang

I still remember that when I was studying at the academy years ago, the professor would often emphasize one thing to us: "Drone support has no trivial matters — a single small oversight could cause irreversible losses." At the time I was young and did not take the professor's words to heart. I thought that as long as I mastered the control techniques, nothing else mattered much. It was not until a field support mission that I truly understood the importance of details.

That late autumn, our cadet unit executed a field support mission for the first time. To ensure nothing went wrong, my comrades and I spent three days at the range beforehand, checking equipment, calibrating parameters, and verifying flight paths, going through every link multiple times — I thought we had done a thorough enough job.

On the day of the mission, watching the drone take off smoothly and complete all the course objectives along the planned flight path, the weight lifted from my heart. What I did not expect was that an accident occurred during recovery: after the recovery parachute deployed and slowed the drone, it separated from the drone without any warning. Watching the drone fall out of control, my mind went blank.

That afternoon, the professor personally led us through disassembling the drone wreckage and checking the equipment components. After repeated investigation, the cause was finally confirmed: the igniter had been subjected to friction in the air, accidentally activating the triggered separation device, causing the recovery parachute to detach and the drone to crash.

A small igniter, an inconspicuous friction hazard, had destroyed the entire mission. At that moment, I finally understood what "drone support has no trivial matters" truly means.

In the past, when faced with the tedious work of checking components, calibrating parameters, and investigating hidden hazards, I only wanted to get through the task as quickly as possible. It was not until this drone accident that I understood: what I called "doing my best" was actually still far from sufficient; to achieve genuine "thoroughness," you must pay attention to every single detail.

Now, more than twenty years have passed. Before every support mission, I still ask myself: "If I were a comrade in another detachment, what kind of support would I hope to receive?" The answer is: careful scrutiny of every screw, rigorous verification of every igniter — the rigor and sense of responsibility to give everything so that comrades can have peace of mind.

(Compiled by Gao Zhenming)

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Every Post Is Connected to Combat Capability

■ Junior Sergeant Wang Ke

Before I was transferred to this detachment, I had served three years in another support detachment and considered my technical foundation solid enough — wherever I was assigned, I could get up to speed quickly and handle things with ease. However, the first time I set foot on the drone position deep in the Gobi desert and saw that simple shelter vehicle, I was brought up short.

At the time, I was responsible for fueling the drones. Faced with boundless solitude and repetitive work, my mood began to grow restless, and as a result I encountered a "harrowing moment" I have regretted ever since.

Different drones require different fuels. That time, I picked up a fuel drum and was about to open the valve and start fueling when Squad Leader Chen suddenly reached out and stopped me: "Hold on! Have you smelled this drum?"

I was taken aback and said: "It can't be wrong — it's jet fuel." Squad Leader Chen said nothing more, bent down and leaned in for a sniff, then immediately frowned: "Wrong — this is gasoline! You grabbed the wrong drum!"

My back instantly went cold and cold sweat soaked through my combat uniform — if the wrong fuel had actually been added, at best it would have clogged the engine lines, at worst it would have burned out the equipment outright, rendering the entire support mission a complete failure.

I stood to one side, still shaken, watching Squad Leader Chen fuel the drone according to procedure. The words he repeated again and again — "Drone support has no 'close enough,' only 'zero errors'" — struck me hard.

This experience of nearly making a mistake made me fully realize: drone support tolerates no empiricism; an oversight in any single detail could cause an irreversible error.

Over the past two years, my professional skills have continued to improve, and I have come to understand more deeply the meaning of drone support — everything we do is not for the sake of mechanically completing a workflow, but to safeguard the safety of exercises and training and to underpin battlefield victory. Whether routine fuel management or field bivouac support; whether parameter calibration or equipment maintenance… every post and every procedure is connected to combat capability.

Now, every time I open a fuel valve and fuel a drone, I always think back to that "harrowing moment" and to Squad Leader Chen's earnest admonition. I know that drone support work is plain and unremarkable — only by holding firm to the principle of rigor and meticulousness can we lay a solid foundation for winning battles in the cause of strengthening the military.

(Compiled by Gao Zhenming)