Drone Flew 60 km Round Trip to Recover Soldier as EW Cut Satellites
The 475th Separate Assault Regiment used an AI-guided StarGate drone to pull two wounded men from a zone 5 km from the Russian border.
By Samir Doyle ·
Ukrainian forces recovered two wounded soldiers from contested ground in the past week using a drone built to carry casualties, after electronic warfare knocked out satellite navigation during the flight.
The 475th Separate Assault Regiment, also called CODE 9.2, flew the StarGate, manufactured by SkyFall, to evacuate Yevhen, 25, who uses the alias Izium, and Artem, 24, who uses the alias Kolobok. Both men had severe limb injuries and lay in a grey zone about 5 km from the Russian border. The unit said difficult terrain, water obstacles and the threat of Russian FPV drones ruled out moving them by ground, and that aerial evacuation was the only way to save them.
The regiment spent a week planning the missions with SkyFall representatives. The operations needed fire support and coordination with other Ukrainian units, and Vampire attack drones were used to suppress Russian positions. During one mission, StarGate flew nearly 30 km to reach a serviceman, then roughly the same distance back with the soldier aboard. Russian forces in the area used electronic warfare systems aimed at shutting down satellite navigation signals entirely, CODE 9.2 said. The drone's AI-based navigation system kept the flight on course after satellite navigation was lost, and the mission was completed.
StarGate is rated for a range of up to 30 km and a payload of up to 150 kg, and reaches a maximum speed of 105 km/h. It is remotely operated and carries a medical capsule fitted with a stretcher for casualty evacuation. SkyFall built the aircraft for that purpose and handed it to the military for frontline testing.
Oleksandr Nastenko, who goes by the alias Flint and commands the 475th Separate Assault Regiment, said the drone work will support the creation of a dedicated medical aviation unit. "It will specialise specifically in evacuating wounded soldiers from the battlefield by air," he said.
The operation on 19 October was reported as the first time a wounded soldier had been evacuated by drone. That flight used an aircraft from the Ukrainian company Gurzuf Defence. SkyFall, the 475th Separate Assault Regiment and Ukrainska Pravda reported the two recoveries.
