Testing Drone ability to deliver blood to the battlefield

Project Convergence 22, Fort Irwin, California; U.S. Army drone delivers medical supplies. (Thiem Huynh/U.S. Army)

The U.S. Army is testing drones that could deliver blood in the battlefield. Packages with simulated blood are loaded onto Army drones. The drones fly to a test area simulating the location where the blood is needed. This exercise is a part of the Army’s continued push to find better ways to efficiently deliver medical supplies to wounded troops. America’s experiences in the Global War on Terrorism, as well observations of events in Ukraine, helped motivate the need to test drones this way.

From the Stars and Stripes:

“The need is pretty clear: making sure that whole blood is accessible to forward medics,” said Nathan Fisher, chief of medical robots and autonomous systems at the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, at Fort Detrick, Md.

Fisher’s medical supply drone, known as Project Crimson, was what flew overhead and dropped off the fake blood at Fort Irwin during a training scenario for a mass-casualty situation.

The exercise ran from late September into November and included medical personnel from the U.S. and Australian armies.

The FVR-90 drone used by the Army can take off and land vertically, and carry up to 22 pounds of temperature-controlled whole blood to troops up to 250 miles away, a TATRC statement last year said.

“This drone supports medical field care when casualty evacuation isn’t an option,” Fisher said in the statement. “It can keep whole blood and other crucial items refrigerated in the autonomous portable refrigeration unit and take it to medics in the field with wounded warriors.”

One of the bitterest lessons learned from 20 years of American wars is the necessity of preventing blood loss on the battlefield quickly, said Air Force Col. Stacy Shackelford, a doctor and chief of the San Antonio-based Joint Trauma System.

The Afghanistan War and the Russia-Ukraine war in particular were on the minds of military medical officials this summer when they developed seven recommendations for improving the Defense Department’s blood supply program, Shackelford told Stars and Stripes.

One recommendation was research into blood delivery by drone, she said.

The U.S. had complete air superiority in Iraq and Afghanistan, and troops relied on the ability to quickly and safely fly the wounded to field hospitals for emergency care. But that might not be possible in future wars with countries that have anti-air missiles and fighter jets, Shackelford said.

“I think it’s going to come down to drone delivery of blood by some type of unmanned vehicle that can fly in and drop off more blood or more bullets, whatever is needed, Shackelford said, in a statement this summer.

Stars and Stripes has additional information here.

Category: Army News