KOL in practice: what a coordination session looks like

When several units with drones arrive at one operation, someone has to know what is flying over the area. In FLAARE that is the Air Operations Coordinator, KOL for short. One person, one map, the drones of every organisation taking part in the operation.

That is how it worked at the “Codename LAKE 2026” exercise: seven drones from different teams over one lake and a coordinator who saw each of them live. Below is a step-by-step description of how such a session runs.

Before the operation starts

A coordination session needs no preparation on the day of the operation, but a few things are set up earlier, usually once, during rollout.

The organisation that will coordinate has the coordinator function enabled. The organisations that share their drones have sharing enabled. Every drone that is to be visible to the coordinator has the “Visible to KOL” option ticked on its card. Without it the drone stays invisible, even if it is flying in the middle of the operation.

The session is started by an account with operator rights. Usually that is the person responsible for drones in the unit leading the operation.

A 10 km radius

The coordinator starts the session with the “Become KOL” button. From that moment they see on the map the drones of all organisations within 10 km of their position. A drone that enters this area appears on the map by itself. A drone that leaves it disappears.

Drones are grouped by operator. Each organisation gets its own colour, and its aircraft, trails and points on the map are drawn in that colour. The panel next to the map lists the organisations, the number of their drones in range and the names of the aircraft. Clicking a drone on the list moves the map to it.

The coordinator sees the position, heading and trail of each drone with the label “organisation - drone name”. They do not see the battery, speed or flight mode. Technical data stays in the unit the drone belongs to. What matters to the coordinator is where everyone is and where they are heading.

Areas: the coordinator draws, the operator passes them on

The coordinator’s most important tool is drawing areas. The coordinator marks a polygon, circle or rectangle on the map, names it and assigns it to a specific organisation. The area immediately appears on that organisation’s operations map.

The area does not reach the pilots’ controllers on its own. The organisation’s operator sees it on their map, marked as coming from KOL, and sends it to their pilots’ controllers with one button. From that moment the pilot has the area on screen and knows where to search.

This intermediate step is deliberate. The coordinator indicates what a given unit should do. The unit’s operator decides what reaches its pilots. No organisation loses control over its people and its equipment.

An area on the controller is a guide, not a no-fly zone. It shows the pilot where to fly. It does not block the drone.

The session lasts 12 hours

A coordination session has an end. It lasts 12 hours from the start. If the operation goes on longer, the coordinator extends it by another 12 hours and can keep doing so for as long as needed.

When the session expires, access to other organisations’ drones ends by itself. There is nothing to remember to switch off. Areas drawn by the coordinator disappear from the organisations’ maps. The copies that operators sent to the controllers stay, because they are now each unit’s own elements.

Outside a session full isolation applies: each organisation sees only its own drones.

Where to find more

Settings and permissions are described in the KOL module documentation. The module is part of FLAARE in the version for services.