On the launch pad, a drone is ready and waiting for the launch command.
Through the observation window, Sergeant Su Zheng watched all this from inside the drone car.
At that moment, he clearly heard the sound of his heart beating faster.
"Ignition!" The commander gave an order, and the drone took off into the air, dragging its tail flame and roaring into the sky.
Watching the drone fly into the clouds, the leader of the drone reconnaissance platoon of a brigade of the 74th Army was particularly excited.
"Report flight data!" A voice came from the radio, and Su Zheng's eyes quickly returned to the screen.
As a flight controller, he must pay attention to the flight data in real time, work closely with his comrades, and precisely control the drone to fly according to the set route to capture each target.
This is not a one-person battle, but the coordination of the entire platoon.
Su Zheng controlled the drone flight, Sergeant Zeng Fanzhen was in charge of finding the target, and Second Sergeant Wu Shuai compiled the battlefield footage into reconnaissance intelligence and uploaded it... On one flight, everyone seemed to wind up.
On the screen, the real-time image of the drone is clearly visible.
Infantry charging, sappers breaking barriers, artillery roaring... These scenes reminded Su Zheng of himself many years ago, the recruit who charged with heavy machine guns on the exercise field.
Five years ago, a new round of deepening the reform of national defense and the armed forces was pushed further "below the neck".
Su Zheng came here with the dream of "becoming a drone pilot" and started a dream-chasing journey.
Five years later, he and his comrades flew multi-type drones and grew into the backbone of the squad leader along the way.
Recalling the transformation experience, Su Zheng felt that the dream had become reality.
Looking back at the computer screen again, the red flight path is very conspicuous: connecting from the starting point to the target area, twists and turns, just like the growth of Su Zheng and his comrades, there are the hardships of changing jobs and the joy of flying...
This route has witnessed the youthful dreams of a group of officers and soldiers, and recorded the growth and leap of a new type of combat unit.
People who want to be special forces operate drones
Similar to Su Zheng's experience, the comrades in the UAV reconnaissance platoon all came from their posts, as did platoon leader Feng Yang.
After watching the TV series "I Am a Special Forces", Feng Yang, who enlisted in the army, has always had a dream of becoming a special force in his heart.
From soldier to military cadet, Feng Yang has passed his dream several times.
"If you can't be a special force, you have to train yourself as a special force." For a while, Feng Yang got up early in the morning for long-distance running, and worked overtime to practice the horizontal bar at night. He lost 7.5 kilograms in 3 months.
The new platoon leader took the training camp, and after training hard, he graduated with the first overall score.
When assigning the next company, Feng Yang insisted on going to the reconnaissance battalion, because "scouts are also special forces".
He thought he would continue working in the reconnaissance camp, but Feng Yang did not expect that a year later, he received a notice of intention to change the guard.
At that time, the drone reconnaissance platoon leader was missing, and the leaders of the battalion and company saw that Feng Yang's quality was good and intended to let him take up this position.
Similar to Feng Yang, Corporal Huang Zhipeng also came to the reconnaissance camp with the dream of "becoming a special forces soldier".
Five years ago, on the train that Huang Zhipeng took to transport new recruits, the recruiting cadre asked, "Do you want to be a special forces soldier?" "Yes!" Huang Zhipeng was the first to raise his hand.
His father was an old scout. He grew up listening to the stories of scouts. Huang Zhipeng hopes to become a hero who "goes alone" like his father.
Because of this raised hand, Huang Zhipeng came to the reconnaissance camp to become a scout.
In that year, the adjustment and reform of the army was further advanced, and the drone reconnaissance platoon came into being.
Even after more than 1,000 days and nights, Huang Zhipeng still clearly remembers the scene when he was transferred.
It was a bright moonlit night. During the roll call, the company commander announced the drone platoon.
Hearing his name, Huang Zhipeng felt a sigh in his heart.
Facing the unknown position, a feeling of surprise and unease spread in my heart.
Unlike Huang Zhipeng, the third sergeant major Zhang Liuhua was full of anticipation the moment he heard his name.
The veteran, who has been a cook, a tank commander and a gunner, has a personal understanding of his transfer experience: "To catch up with the tide of reform, it is a blessing to be transferred."
In this way, a group of seemingly unrelated people got together and formed the first drone platoon of the brigade.
Soon, Sergeant Su Zheng discovered what everyone had in common: a dream.
At the first platoon meeting, everyone talked about the development of drone platoons.
Although they have no relevant professional experience, and many people have never even seen drones, this group of young officers and soldiers quickly reached a consensus: they must let drones fly from their hands.
That day, Su Zheng deliberately changed his WeChat name: "Dreamland Flyer".
The picture of the drone taking off has become the most beautiful scenery
After the transfer, Su Zheng thought he had arrived at the "runway" where the drone took off, but found that he could not see the "starting line" at all.
In the first days, everything was blank.
The UAV platoon does not have the conditions to carry out relevant subject training, and can only temporarily follow the training of armed reconnaissance.
Climbing, gliding, fighting... During that time, they were training with their comrades in the reconnaissance battalion, while accumulating strength for the "takeoff" of the new profession.
Without expert technical guidance, the learning process is extremely laborious.
The professional theories and various formulas in the book once made Su Zheng feel "like gnawing on hard bones".
In the process of perseverance, they ushered in one good news after another: a certain type of drone was installed, and the superior organized a professional training camp for drones... Su Zheng described it as "it's like encountering a supply station on a long journey", while comrade Zhou Xiongjian felt "Both nervous and excited."
The second-rank sergeant said frankly: "The anxiety is because we are weak and under pressure, and the excitement is because we finally have the opportunity to arm our minds!"
The training started, and the tests of intelligence, skills, physical fitness and so on came.
In the theoretical class, more than ten courses such as aerodynamics and mechanical structure need to be mastered; in the practical operation, each screw on the body has a tightening standard; to start the drone, it is necessary to cooperate to carry an engine of nearly 150 kilograms...
Facing the challenge, Zhou Xiongjian and his comrades did not adapt easily.
Airframe installation, they took longer than other units; flight route planning, they were criticized for typing wrong instructions...
The training team took the first test, and their scores were second to last.
On the day the results came out, everyone felt hot on their faces, and their feelings of loss spread rapidly.
At this time, the third sergeant major Zhang Liuhua took the initiative to stand up and talk to everyone.
"This is a hurdle that we must overcome." The 16-year-old soldier said a meaningful sentence, "Eggs broken from the outside will be eaten, but if they are pecked from the inside, they may be an eagle. Humans are eagles."
On that day, the officers and soldiers of the entire platoon wanted to understand the fact that the biggest enemy in this battle was themselves.
That night, Zhou Xiongjian posted a WeChat Moments: "If you give, you will always get something!" and accompanied it with a picture of the alarm clock at 5:30 in the morning.
They embarked on the road of rivalry with themselves.
Get up at 5:30 in the morning and don't go to bed before 12:00 at night.
Learning theory, chasing after the instructor with a notebook and asking questions; doing practical exercises, others are resting and they are still training.
In order to improve his skills, the second sergeant Zhou Xiongjian worshipped a senior soldier in his brother's army as his teacher. He never felt ashamed: "It's a real shame if you can't learn."
It was noon when it was their turn to do homework.
Under the scorching sun, they occupied the deployment positions and carried out target reconnaissance.
When assembling the drone, Corporal Huang Zhipeng was lying on the ground tightening the screws, soaked with sweat... In the end, they cooperated in groups and cooperated closely, and achieved the second place in the training team.
From the penultimate place to the positive second place, the counterattack of the results excited this group of young people and made them believe more: the most beautiful scenery is always on the way of continuous climbing.
Today, Su Zheng can't remember how many times the drone has been released, but he always remembers the scene when the drone flew into the sky from their hands for the first time.
That day, Su Zheng and his comrades got up at 4 am to prepare equipment, set up the venue, and debug the equipment. When everything was ready, the sky was already bright.
Everyone forgot their exhaustion and nervously waited for the ignition code.
"Ignition!" The drone jumped out, galloped into the sky, and swept out a wonderful arc.
That picture became the most beautiful scenery in their memory.
Fly to the vast sky and realize new dreams
Not long ago, the brigade held the "Win the Pioneer" awards party, and Su Zheng accepted the award as an advanced representative of training and preparing for war.
Standing in the center of the podium, the spotlight hits his face, and the applause rings in his ears.
After receiving the flowers and trophies, Su Zheng's ear echoed the award speech: "Build the battlefield's sky eye, take off the reconnaissance blade..."
Savouring this award speech, the squad leader, who grew up with the drone platoon, felt more and more the glory of his mission.
In the actual combat exercise last year, after the unmanned reconnaissance aircraft they controlled successfully penetrated into the "enemy" many times, they were praised by the exercise director group...
The new scenery of the front line of the training is drawn by the drone reconnaissance platoon.
In the past few years, they have accumulated flight data from scratch, sorted out a set of training system and more than 100 usage specifications, and filled the gap in the operation and use of brigade drones.
Today, in the UAV professional training ground, the specialization of avionics inspection, simulated real flight and other post and sub-module specialization has become the norm.
"I didn't dare to dream of it before." Speaking of the change from blank to self-training and self-management in recent years, Su Zheng sincerely felt that with the continuous installation of new equipment, the drone reconnaissance platoon is growing rapidly.
This "accelerated growth" is also reflected in every comrade-in-arms.
Every time he passed the brigade, Zhou Xiongjian couldn't help but glance at the Wall of Honor.
There are 16 seats in this wall, and 3 drones are on the list, and Zhou Xiongjian is one of them.
What many people don't know is that before coming to the platoon, Zhou Xiongjian was punished for illegal work.
During that time, Zhou Xiongjian was disheartened and even gave up on himself.
After coming to the drone reconnaissance platoon, the cadres and backbones often cheered him on.
Facing the trust and encouragement of his comrades, Zhou Xiongjian secretly made up his mind: "We must make changes." A year later, he showed his skills in the superior drone competition, won the "Golden Operator" medal, and boarded the Brigade Honor Wall. .
Last year, Zhou Xiongjian served for 8 years. He originally planned to retire and chose to stay: "The drone platoon has changed me and rekindled my dream. I must do something for the new dream."
Driving drones to the vast sky again and again, these young people are also realizing their new dreams.
Today, platoon leader Feng Yang's "special warfare dream" has been upgraded to "drone dream".
At the end of last year, the brigade organized a teaching method competition. Feng Yang walked to the examination room with the latest results of the tactical application of drones, which was well received by the assessment team.
Because of his outstanding performance in all aspects, Feng Yang was rated as an outstanding officer of the "Four Possess".
Compared with personal honors, what makes Feng Yang proud is such a data: In recent years, 11 people in the drone platoon have won the ranking of the brigade or above in the competition training, 9 people have been rated as "four have" outstanding soldiers, and 2 people have been rated as outstanding soldiers. The Army "Love the Army's Elite Warriors".
Honors one by one, witnessing the dream-following "route" of the UAV reconnaissance platoon.
Every day, Feng Yang and his comrades set off before dawn, and it was already night when they returned to the camp.
Late at night, the study room of the drone reconnaissance platoon was still brightly lit...
On the map board, a flight route is particularly eye-catching - ahead, waiting for them is a wider sky and an updated dream.
Han Chaojun Huang Binbin Fu Ziliang Special correspondent Cheng Xinan
New changes bring new horizons
■ Kuang Jiong, a company commander of a brigade and howitzer company of the 74th Army
Drones are the eyes of artillery, seeing accurately and chasing fast.
Not long ago, we participated in a cross-regional live-fire drill.
Before the drill started, the assessment team adjusted the target position on the fly.
"How can I hit if I can't find the target?" I scratched my head anxiously.
At this time, the drone went straight to the sky and quickly returned the target information.
As soon as the command post gave an order, all the artillery opened fire, and went straight to the target with the momentum of thunder.
Drones have brought us new horizons.
In the past, there were no drones, and most of our traditional reconnaissance was carried out on a single plane on the land, which not only "can't see far", but also "can't see clearly".
For a live-fire exercise, the shooting range was switched from inland mountains to coastal beaches.
In the face of heavy fog, some of our traditional reconnaissance methods are not working well.
At this time, the command post decisively ordered, and the drone quickly volleyed into the air. It didn't take long for the "enemy situation" information to be transmitted to the group command vehicle in real time, and then all the "enemy" armored targets were destroyed by artillery fire.
With drones, the accuracy of information is improved and the time for target capture is accelerated, which is more conducive to our best shooting efficiency.
(Organized by our special correspondent Cheng Xinan)
New job writing new exciting
Deng Yongping, deputy squad leader of a UAV reconnaissance platoon of a brigade of the 74th Group Army
Before I came to the UAV platoon, I was an artilleryman, and I was among the best in many competitions. I was a good player in the eyes of cadres.
After the troop adjustment and reform, an order made me transfer to a drone operator.
In the face of a new starting point, to be honest, I was a little "frightened" in my heart.
When I first arrived in the platoon, I couldn't understand the theory or practice, so I could only worry about the drone.
I found that wanting to be a member of a new type of combat force is not as simple as I imagined.
During that time, I used my notebook to ask professional technical experts all day long, and trained hard against the training materials and user manuals, and gradually caught up.
The year before last, I participated in the UAV professional competition organized by the Army in the theater, and I also won the honor of "Golden Operator".
Transformation does not mean a break in the path of growth.
Facing the future, I believe that as long as we dare to meet the challenge, we will be able to write more exciting things in the new position.
(organized by our special correspondent Cheng Xinan and correspondent Wang Zhengkai)