Military drones aren't just for attack or surveillance. If the U.S. Army has its way, its medics could soon call on unmanned helicopters to evacuate the wounded to nearby aid stations.

The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command is looking at the Dragonfly Pictures, Inc. DP-14 Hawk as a possible alternative to traditional helicopters for casualty evacuation. The DP-14 Hawk is a twin-rotor helicopter that looks like a miniature CH-47 Chinook. Small enough to fit in a utility van, it can be assembled and ready to fly in just thirty minutes.

Hawk being unloaded from a van. Via DPI UAV Systems.

Once operational, the Hawk has a cruise speed of about 82 miles an hour and can carry payloads of up to 430 pounds for up to 2.4 hours. Hawk can complete a mission autonomously, relying on internal navigation systems to get from one point to another—even without GPS.

The Hawk has an internal payload bay of 23 cubic feet, which translates to an area just over six feet by 20 inches. This man-sized area could be ideal for ferrying an injured soldier from the front line to a nearby aid station. DPI also says the drone could be used for "precision agriculture, farming, wildfire life & safety, search and rescue, survey and expedition resupply, (and) marine operations." Hawk can also carry slung loads under the drone, or even team up with a second drone to share carrying an even larger slung load.

Read more at Defensetech

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