Ukraine Army Airlifts Wounded Soldier 39 Miles by Drone in First Battlefield Evacuation
Updated
Updated · Ars Technica · Oct 20
Ukraine Army Airlifts Wounded Soldier 39 Miles by Drone in First Battlefield Evacuation
3 articles · Updated · Ars Technica · Oct 20
Summary
A heavy hexacopter carried a wounded Ukrainian soldier nearly 39 miles to safety in what the army called its first battlefield drone evacuation, with video of the mission released on October 19.
Russian drones and landmines made a wheeled ground-robot rescue impractical, so the 92nd assault brigade used a Heavy Shot AYUDAG 6 drone and first delivered carabiners for the soldier to clip into a suspended harness.
The evacuation took 1 hour and 14 minutes from start to finish; the drone, supplied free by Gurzuf Defence, can reportedly lift up to 200 pounds.
The rescued serviceman from Ukraine's 30th mechanized brigade had spent nearly 500 days at a frontline position, where troops were already relying on drone deliveries for ammunition and other supplies.
The operation surfaced days after Ukraine began frontline testing of other casualty-evacuation drones, underscoring how battlefield pressure is accelerating medical rescue innovation.