FIELD KIT
COMPANY DRONE PACKAGE

Author: Tiny

COMPLETE 2026-04-15 6 MIN READ

KEY TAKEAWAY

Company drone capability in three waterproof Pelican 1510 cases. Case 1 (15 kg): 4 FPV drones plus 8 LiPo batteries plus spare propellers. Case 2 (15 kg): ground station with FPV goggles, transmitter, ISDT Q6 Pro charger, cables, Lisa 26 tablet. Case 3 (15 kg): repair kit with TS101 soldering iron, Sn63/Pb37 solder, 4 spare motors, 2 spare ESCs, cable ties, heat shrink, kapton tape. Three soldiers carry three cases. From drone loss to replacement airborne: 3-5 minutes.

Case 1 — Drones and Batteries

Four FPV drones packed in custom foam cutouts inside Pelican 1510. Each drone sits with propellers removed and stored separately to prevent damage during transport. Arms folded where design permits. Eight 6S 1300mAh LiPo batteries in fireproof LiPo bags — two per drone plus four spares. Battery state of charge at packing: storage voltage (3.85V per cell) to maximize shelf life. Charged to full (4.2V per cell) only before mission. Spare propeller sets: 4 complete sets (16 propellers). Total case weight: 15 kg. Pelican 1510 dimensions: 502×280×193mm — fits overhead compartment on commercial aircraft for transport to theater.

Quick replacement procedure: open case, extract drone, mount propellers (4 screws, 60 seconds), connect charged battery from Case 2 charging station, power on ArduPilot (30 second EKF3 convergence), conduct 10-second hover test, depart. Total time from opening case to drone airborne: 3-5 minutes. This is faster than a typical battery charge cycle (25 minutes) — if spares are pre-charged, the bottleneck is assembly not charging.

Case 2 — Ground Station

FPV goggles (Skyzone SKY04X, €350): dual diversity receivers, DVR recording for AAR. Transmitter (RadioMaster TX16S, €200): ELRS module for long-range or Silvus MANET integration. ISDT Q6 Pro charger (€60): charges 6S LiPo at up to 8A — 25 minutes for 1300mAh at 5A. Four simultaneous charge ports with XT60 cables. Lisa 26 tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab Active4 Pro, ruggedized, €650): displays COP, receives Fischer 26 video, shows L2 recommendations. Cables: XT60 charge leads (4), USB-C for tablet, barrel jack for charger power input. Portable power station connection: Anderson PowerPole to the Jackery Explorer 500 in the vehicle.

Ground station setup time: 5 minutes. Unfold antenna, power charger from portable station or vehicle 24V, boot Lisa 26 tablet, connect FPV goggles to DVR recorder. The station operates from any 12-28V DC source: portable station (500Wh), vehicle cigarette lighter (12V), solar panel (100W), or generator. No dependence on a single power source.

Case 3 — Repair Kit

TS101 soldering iron (€60): USB-C powered, reaches 350°C in 8 seconds, runs from any USB-PD power bank. Solder: Sn63/Pb37 0.8mm (lead solder — mandatory for arctic reliability, see cold-component-failure). Flux pen (no-clean). Spare motors: 4× Emax ECO II 2207 (€8 each). Spare ESCs: 2× SpeedyBee BLS 55A (€25 each). Cable ties: 100 assorted. Heat shrink: 5m assorted diameters. Kapton tape: 2 rolls (high-temperature insulation for solder joints). Multimeter: Aneng AN8008 (€15) for voltage/continuity checks. Wire: 14AWG silicone (1m red, 1m black) for power leads. XT60 connectors: 10 pairs. JST-SH connectors: 10 assorted for signal cables.

Common field repairs and time: broken motor wire (5 minutes, strip-tin-join-heatshrink), cracked arm (3 minutes, CA glue plus cable tie splint), dead ESC (15 minutes, desolder four motor wires plus battery leads, swap ESC, recalibrate), broken propeller (1 minute, swap from spares in Case 1), loose XT60 (2 minutes, resolder with fresh solder and flux). Every repair procedure is documented in the soldering-field-repair chapter with step-by-step instructions.

Transport and Waterproofing

Pelican 1510 cases are IP67 rated — submersible to 1 meter for 30 minutes. Drones and electronics survive rain, mud, river crossings, and transport strapped to the exterior of armored vehicles in all weather. Silica gel packets inside each case prevent condensation when moving between temperature extremes (heated vehicle interior to -20°C exterior). Critical rule: after moving from cold to warm, wait 30 minutes before opening the case — condensation forms on cold electronics and can cause short circuits if powered on immediately.

Three cases at 15 kg each = 45 kg total. One soldier per case during dismounted movement. On vehicles: strapped to external racks or stored inside the crew compartment. The kit fits in a BV 206 rear compartment alongside 11 soldiers, or on the cargo bed of any Terrängbil. No special mounting hardware needed — standard ratchet straps secure the Pelican cases against vibration and impact.

The field kit design philosophy prioritizes operational independence: every component needed for 8 hours of sustained drone operations fits in three cases that three soldiers carry. No external dependencies on workshops, charging infrastructure, or supply chains during those 8 hours. The field kit transforms any location with a flat surface into an operational drone base within 10 minutes of arrival.

The field kit concept evolved from Ukrainian field experience where units without standardized field equipment wasted hours assembling ad-hoc repair stations from scattered components. A standardized field package eliminates this improvisation — every company receives identical field kits with identical contents in identical cases, enabling any soldier to locate any component in any field kit across the entire brigade without prior familiarization.

PLAIN LANGUAGE: THREE CASES

Case 1: drones and batteries. Case 2: station and charger. Case 3: repair tools and spares. 15 kg each. One soldier per case. Waterproof. 3-5 minutes from drone loss to replacement in the air. Every repair under 15 minutes with the tools in Case 3. The kit is the minimum viable drone capability for a company — everything needed, nothing extra.

← Part of Platoon Integration

Related Chapters

Night Operations

Power Supply Field

Supply Chain & Dependencies

Release Mechanisms

Sources

Mathematical proofs. Total kit weight (3 × 15 kg = 45 kg) is verified by provable_claims.py under identifier FIELD_KIT_TOTAL_WEIGHT. The 6S 1300 mAh charge time of approximately 22–26 minutes at 5 A is verified under LIPO_6S_CHARGE_TIME_5A, using a CC/CV charge-profile model with roughly 60 % CC-phase efficiency.

Product specifications. Pelican 1510 dimensions (502 × 280 × 193 mm) and IP67 rating — Pelican published datasheet. ISDT Q6 Pro maximum 8 A charge current and four simultaneous channels — ISDT product manual. Miniware TS101 350 °C heat-up and USB-PD power — Miniware documentation. LiPo storage voltage 3.85 V/cell and full charge 4.2 V/cell — industry-standard values documented by Battery University and published by LiPo manufacturers. Sn63/Pb37 eutectic behaviour at 183 °C — standard metallurgy reference.

Component prices — not independently verified. The listed prices (Skyzone SKY04X €350, RadioMaster TX16S €200, ISDT Q6 Pro €60, Samsung Galaxy Tab Active4 Pro €650, TS101 €60, Emax ECO II 2207 €8 each, SpeedyBee BLS 55A €25 each, Aneng AN8008 €15, training drone €270) are FSG-A internal procurement-list numbers from 2024–2025 at the time of kit definition. Actual prices vary by supplier, region, and time. Prices are not tracked by a live validator and should be re-verified before procurement.

Operational estimates. The 3–5 minute replacement time from drone loss to new airborne drone, the 10-minute field-station setup time, the 30-minute cold-to-warm condensation wait, and the "every repair under 15 minutes" figure are operational targets derived from FSG-A training and Ukrainian field experience reported publicly 2022–2025. They are not measured under controlled conditions and should be treated as training standards rather than guaranteed field performance.

External standards and references. Pelican 1510 specifications. ISDT Q6 Pro charger manual. TS101 soldering iron documentation. ArduPilot pre-flight checklist. FSG-A field kit configuration v3.0.