Yes, it is intended. The Dao has a limited time to accomplish a sitrep objective so the drone printing has more value the earlier in the fight it is done. The drones use Grit as the flat modifier to the d20 ranged attack like a PC, their deal is the difficulty on enemy targets which stacks with Impaired. Each use of the full action "Print Subaltern Drone" creates a new subaltern which can then move into cover as needed, whether it's the soft cover from the Dao or hard cover on the board.