Ukrainian Drone Evacuation of Wounded Growing

Ukraine is using large cargo drones to carry injured soldiers from the battlefield in what is likely a battlefield first. The drones can carry 397-pound weights for up to 43 miles. Ukraine is reportedly the first country in the world to do this, though how often and exactly where drone rescues have taken place is not known. Ukraine also appears to have experimented with tracked unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to evacuate wounded. A U.S. intelligence agency estimated in April that Ukraine had sustained up to 113,500 wounded soldiers, vs. an estimated 180,000 Russian wounded, since February 2022. Watch a video, here. For more information, see Businessinsider.com and The Economist.com.

Our thanks to CAPT Julio Gutierrez (USN/Ret), and CDR David Place (USN/Ret), davidplace47[at]gmail[dot]com, for their assistance with this report, the background for which appeared in David’s # 23 - 12 - 31 AUGUST 2023 edition of the UNMANNED SYSTEMS NEWS (USN). David distributes the USN, a free, comprehensive newsletter in PDF format every three to four weeks as well as serial news flashes, from which this NREF news update was sourced. To be included in his distribution, simply send a subscribe request to davidplace47[at]gmail[dot]com.