Ukrainian defence technology company SkyFall has reported a third aerial evacuation of a wounded serviceman using the unmanned StarGate CASEVAC platform.
The operation was carried out by troops of the 475th Separate Assault Regiment, CODE 9.2. Over the course of several days, they planned and executed the evacuation, saving a serviceman from a neighbouring unit who had remained in position for 57 days with an injury.
The man rescued is 54-year-old Andrii, call sign “Donbas”. He had been at a combat position since the end of May. On 2 September, while carrying out a combat mission, Andrii was blown up by a mine. Because of the difficult terrain, minefields, shelling and systematic attacks by Russian FPV drones, a ground evacuation of the wounded soldier was impossible, the company said.
During the operation, the unmanned StarGate CASEVAC platform travelled more than 15 km one way and picked up the serviceman from a position located just two kilometres from the state border with Russia. After the successful evacuation, Andrii was taken to hospital, where he is receiving treatment.
In total, over a week and a half, the StarGate drone has helped save three critically wounded servicemen. In particular, the evacuation of two soldiers was previously reported on social media by the 475th Separate Assault Regiment, CODE 9.2.
StarGate is Ukraine’s first specialised unmanned aerial platform for evacuating the wounded from the battlefield (CASEVAC), developed by defence technology company SkyFall. It was created at the request of the military for situations where ground transport cannot reach the wounded.
According to the developers, the drone can carry up to 150 kg of payload and reach speeds of up to 105 km/h. The evacuation module is based on certified medical stretchers. Onboard artificial intelligence, navigation and communications redundancy systems make it possible to continue the mission even under GPS jamming and loss of communications.
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