DroneControl Goes Live on All Things TAK: Bringing Drone Operations Directly into TAK

Yesterday, DroneControl joined Zev Nadler from UAS Strategic and the All Things TAK community for a live session exploring how drones can become a fully integrated part of the TAK ecosystem.

The session brought together Thomas Ingold, CEO & Co-Founder of DroneControl, Jernej Jerin, Technical Co-Founder of DroneControl, Marcel Neuroth, Managing Director of TAK Hub, and Mark Halliday, Director of Mini Workgroups in the UK and TAK subject-matter expert, alongside members of the wider TAK community.

Most importantly, we didn't just talk about it. We demonstrated it live.

A Live Drone. Four Countries. One TAK Environment.

The centrepiece of the session was a live international demonstration spanning Switzerland, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

A DJI enterprise drone was flown in Switzerland using the DroneControl Flight Application, with Jernej supporting the technology from Slovenia. In the UK, Mark Halliday remotely operated the drone, while Zev Nadler in the United States simultaneously accessed the operation through TAK.

The demonstration showed how DroneControl can bring a drone directly into a TAK environment, including:

• Ultra-low-latency encrypted WebRTC video

• Live drone telemetry within TAK

• Remote interaction and control of the drone

• TAK server connectivity directly from the DroneControl Flight Application

• Drone and pilot management through the wider DroneControl ecosystem

All without requiring additional streaming hardware or complex VPN infrastructure.

It demonstrated something fundamental to our approach: TAK integration should not make flying a drone more complicated.

Making TAK Simple for the Drone Pilot

One of the themes throughout the discussion was usability.

Drone pilots already have a demanding job. Connecting a drone into TAK shouldn't require them to become TAK integration specialists.

Our objective is therefore to make TAK connectivity part of the normal DroneControl flight workflow.

Operators can configure their TAK environment within the DroneControl Flight Application and connect the drone directly into the wider operational picture. The pilot continues to concentrate on flying, while video, location and telemetry become available to the wider team.

It's about moving towards one operational workflow rather than a collection of disconnected systems.

More Than a TAK Plugin

The livestream also gave us the opportunity to explain that the TAK integration sits within a much wider DroneControl ecosystem.

DroneControl was built specifically for public safety, emergency response and mission-critical drone operations, bringing together:

Flight Operations → Secure Live Streaming → TAK Integration → Pilot Management → Fleet Management → Automated Flight Logs → Instant Media → Live Operations

Rather than treating the drone purely as another video source, our aim is to manage the complete operational lifecycle around it.

That becomes increasingly important as organisations move from individual pilots and drones towards larger fleets, multi-agency operations and ultimately Drone as First Responder (DFR) and remotely operated drone programmes.

Building With the TAK Community

Perhaps the most valuable part of the session was the discussion with the TAK community itself.

Over recent weeks we've been putting the integration into the hands of TAK specialists and organisations around the world. Their feedback is already directly influencing our development roadmap.

Our philosophy is simple: build with the people who will actually use the technology.

Connecting the Drone to the Common Operating Picture

Drones can provide extraordinary situational awareness, but capturing information is only part of the challenge.

The real value comes when that information reaches the people who need it, inside the operational systems they are already using.

That's why we're so excited about TAK.

By combining DroneControl's drone operations platform with the TAK ecosystem, we're working towards a future where the drone is no longer a standalone tool or separate video feed.

It becomes another fully connected sensor within the Common Operating Picture.

A huge thank you to Zev Nadler, UAS Strategic and All Things TAK, Mark Halliday and Mini Workgroups, Marcel Neuroth and TAK Hub, and everyone who joined the livestream, contributed questions and provided feedback.

The conversation is only getting started.

Watch the Full All Things TAK Livestream

The complete session, including the live international DroneControl demonstration, is available to watch on YouTube.

Interested in testing DroneControl's TAK integration?

We're actively working with TAK users, consultants, public safety organisations and government teams around the world. If you'd like to see the integration in action or discuss a potential deployment, get in touch with the DroneControl team.