Ukraine Troops Lift Wounded From Front Line Using Drone
The 475th Separate Assault Regiment evacuated two soldiers from a contested area roughly 5 km from the Russian border.
By Sarah Montgomery ·
Ukrainian soldiers evacuated two wounded troops from the battlefield last week by airlifting them aboard a StarGate drone, the 475th Separate Assault Regiment, also called CODE 9.2, said on Oct. 26. The unit identified the men as Yevhen, 25, alias Izium, and Artem, 24, alias Kolobok.
Both soldiers had severe limb injuries and were positioned in a grey zone about 5 km from the Russian border, the regiment said. The unit said ground evacuation was ruled out by the terrain, water obstacles and the threat of Russian FPV drones. "Aerial evacuation was the only available way to save them," the regiment said.
The regiment planned the missions over a week with SkyFall, the drone's manufacturer, and called in other Ukrainian units for fire support. Vampire attack drones struck Russian positions during the operations. On one flight, StarGate covered nearly 30 km to reach a soldier, then returned a similar distance with the patient aboard.
Russian electronic warfare systems in the area attempted to cut satellite navigation signals during the flight, the regiment said. The drone's AI-based navigation system kept it flying. SkyFall lists StarGate's range at up to 30 km, its payload at up to 150 kg and its top speed at 105 km/h; the aircraft is remotely operated and carries a medical capsule fitted with a stretcher.
Oleksandr "Flint" Nastenko, commander of the 475th Separate Assault Regiment, said the unit plans to build a dedicated medical aviation section around the experience. "It will specialise specifically in evacuating wounded soldiers from the battlefield by air," he said.
SkyFall developed StarGate for casualty evacuation and handed it to the military for frontline testing. On Oct. 19, Ukrainian forces reported a separate first-of-its-kind drone evacuation of a wounded soldier using a platform built by Gurzuf Defence.
