PABRADE, LITHUANIA – Drones have become one of Ukraine’s biggest killers.
Fast, almost silent and notoriously difficult to see, they prowl the skies searching for targets and launching catastrophic attacks on civilians and soldiers.
These uncrewed aircraft have transformed warfare and posed a new challenge for battlefield medicine.
But now, they may also be able to help save lives.
US army innovators have successfully trialled drones carrying blood supplies to the front lines, for emergency transfusions for injured soldiers, in what military doctors say could revolutionise battlefield medicine.
The i Paper has been granted access to a test launch, to find out how the Ukraine war is changing medicine and how the alliance is preparing.
In January, short-range drones caused more casualties among civilians than any other weapon, according to the UN, killing civilians going about their daily lives as well as soldiers on the battlefields.
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During intense combat, it is difficult to safely withdraw injured troops without the casualty or rescuer being hit again – but transporting medical equipment, including blood, into the combat situation by plane or vehicle also puts rescue teams at risk.
Now, Nato is able to use a drone to drop life-saving materials right to the heart of the conflict.
A specially insulated box called a Collins Box is filled with 30 blood packets – mostly type O, which can be given safely to most casulaties whatever their blood type – and rigged up to the underbelly of the drone.
It can then be flown to the location of a casualty, and administered by soldiers on the front lines.
Emergency doctor David Hourani said this was the “future of combat medicine”.
US soldiers prepare for the launch of a drone carrying blood supplies (Photo: Nato MNCNE/PAO)“Getting the supply of any sort of medical supplies forward can be difficult at times, and so in a large scale combat operation, avoiding putting personnel in danger for those resupply operations is key.
“Getting things such as blood or other medical supplies forward with drones simplifies that process, let’s us get medical supplies that we wouldn’t normally be able to get further forward on the battlefield to that place without putting additional personnel at risk.”
US army ‘taking lessons from Ukraine’
A blood transfusion will buy time for an injured soldier before they can be transported to a field hospital. When they receive the blood, medics perform surgery to make sure it will stay inside the patient, and then transfuse the packets into them. This stabilises the patient so they can be evacuated to a higher level of care.
Lieutenant Colonel Ronnie Hill, a blood expert who represents the US’s Armed Services Blood Programme in Europe, said his force was “taking the lessons that have been provided within the Ukraine conflict“.
A box of simulated human blood is attached to the base of the drone during tests (Photo: Nato Mncne/PAO)“It’s absolutely been translated from what we’ve seen occurring there,” he added. “This is absolutely game-changing.”
The system still has risks. Like any other UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), the blood drone can be shot down or “jammed” – when an enemy uses electromagnetic signals to disable the line of communication between the aircraft and its operator.
“Like any other drone launch, it will just be the best attempt,” says Hill. “Of course, our own forces will be out there to try and assist with protecting the drones as they’re flying.”
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