Ukraine flies the first drone rescues of wounded troops

Ukraine has conducted battlefield casualty evacuations using heavy unmanned aircraft, including a Heavy Shot Ayudag-6 mission that extracted a soldier from an encircled position in October 2026. The hexacopter carries up to 130 kilograms and flew more than 15 kilometres on the outbound leg, with supporting drones diverting hostile interceptors. A separate Stargate system carries a medical module and up to 150 kilograms, with assault troops reporting two evacuations from positions near the Russian border. Developed against Brave1 requirements, these aircraft combine alternative communications and autonomous navigation to support extraction where terrain, drones and electronic warfare obstruct conventional rescue.