And to add to what rcaf_777 posted, we hear the word "drone" all the time and kind of assume that the idea is unique to the 21st century. In the recent past they were doing exactly the same thing but they called them Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPV) among other names. It is the same concept as every radio controlled car, boat or plane that's even been made for recreation (although obviously with some seriously beefed up tech behind it).
During the 1970s I think it was, the US Navy landed a Phantom (I can't remember what type of F4 it was) on one of their carriers via remote control.
The very first autopilot was developed in 1912 and demonstrated at an aviation safety contest in Paris in 1914. Terrain Following Radar was developed in the late 1950s and was in use in some aircraft by the late 1960s.
Point being, we have had the tech for quite some time and there have been many RPV, UAV, drone etc. etc. vehicles over the years. There have also been many aerial vehicles used for comms relay including blimps and tethered balloons
What's being proposed by kalos72 can be done and has already been done.
The most recent example I know of but using an actual drone (tethered in this case with power supplied via the tether) is touted as having a time on station of up to 45 days with a comms relay range of 80km or more. It's being made by a Ukrainian company called Matrix UAV
I think the only real question here, is what resources does his game world have to allow the acquisition and use of these sorts of vehicles? If he wants them in the game world, the concepts and the tech have been around for plenty long enough for them to be a reality.
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