Four minutes. That is all you have before everything changes.
Four minutes. That is how long the brain can survive without oxygen before damage becomes irreversible. That is how long it takes for fire to spread from a point source to a full blaze. That is how long a determined perpetrator needs to vanish in built-up terrain.
In every one of these situations, exactly the same thing counts: whoever understands the situation first controls it.
That is precisely why three of the eight CERBERUS K9 modules — reconnaissance drones, K9 SAR / Tracking, and the Security Conference — are not a random combination. They are three links in the same decision chain.
The loop no one ever taught you
Colonel John Boyd, fighter pilot and one of the most influential military theorists of the 20th century, observed that in air combat the winner is not the one with the faster aircraft. The winner is the one who moves faster through four phases: observe, orient, decide, act. The OODA loop — a decision cycle that became the foundation of NATO doctrine and is used today wherever tempo matters: from special operations units to crisis rescue centres. The principle is simple — an opponent who cannot keep up with your decisions loses the initiative. And initiative is everything.
The problem is that most K9 operators, rescuers and officers in Poland train individual skills in isolation. A dog for tracking. A drone operator for flying. A crisis-management specialist for threat analysis. Three separate worlds. Three separate courses. Three separate weekends a year. And at the end — one situation in which everything must work together in a single, coupled loop.
That is exactly where CERBERUS K9 does something no other training in Poland does.
OBSERVE: see more before anyone starts acting
Reconnaissance drones are not a hobbyist's toy. They are a tool that gives you a picture of the situation in three minutes that a ground team would work half an hour to build. You look from above. You see what the dog has not yet scented. You see what the operator on the ground has no way to see.
The CERBERUS K9 module walks you through mission planning with UAVs, coordinating the operator with ground units and real-time image analysis. You work in real terrain, simulating reconnaissance scenarios for K9 and medical teams.
Ticket: free. Places: 29.
This is the only opportunity in Poland to practise full air–ground coordination in operational conditions, not on a training range.
ORIENT: read a situation no one else can see
The drone will show you smoke. The dog will tell you whether someone inside is still alive.
K9 SAR / Tracking is not a course in dog tricks. It is a methodology for reading the animal's work — an animal that has sensors in the environment you will never have. The dog will register trace amounts of organic matter, wind direction changing how scent is distributed, microscopic movements that reveal human presence.
Your job is not to train the dog. Your job is to learn to read it.
The module covers real search scenarios — tracking in woodland, searches in built-up terrain, reading the dog's work when you cannot see the signs yourself. Location: OSIR Piaski-Szczygliczka. Reservoir, forest, buildings. An environment that does not forgive mistakes.
Ticket: 800 PLN. Places: 18.
In the 2025 edition this module sold out first.
DECIDE: understand the game you are playing
You can have the best drone and the best dog. But if you do not understand the strategic context in which you operate, your tools are like modern weapons in the hands of someone who does not know who the enemy is.
The security conference at CERBERUS K9 2026 is four panels with NATO / EU experts, special units and the defence sector. Topics: hybrid threats, societal resilience, the role of civil defence, operational readiness in the face of asymmetric threats.
This is not an academic lecture. These are people who work with these threats every day. Speakers this edition include, among others, Prof. Mirosław Kuświk of the Kalisz University — graduate of the War Studies Academy, Piotr Peksa, Mariusz Urbaniak and Krzysztof Papadis. These names need no introduction.
Ticket: free. Places: 39.
Under the media patronage of Polska Zbrojna, Radio Eska and Special Ops.
ACT: close the loop. Or someone else will close it for you
Three modules. Three stages of Boyd's decision loop. One location. Two days.
What you will learn at CERBERUS K9 2026 is not available anywhere else in Poland. Not because someone is hiding it. Because no one else has brought these three domains together in one event with 15+ NATO and EU delegations as participants, not observers.
13–14 June 2026. Ostrów Wielkopolski. 5 locations.
Drones — 29 free places. K9 SAR — 18 places at 800 PLN. Conference — 39 free places. The full trio available in one weekend, in one place, with instructors and speakers whose individual trainings elsewhere would mean weeks of waiting and many times the financial outlay.
These are real numbers from the registration system, not marketing "last places". In the 2025 edition we closed the list with a waiting queue. In 2026 history is repeating — faster.
The decision loop does not wait. The situation in which your skills will be needed will not appear at a convenient moment for you. Every minute of delay in your OODA loop is a minute of advantage on the problem's side.
The decision is now.