Pickell, William (United States Military Academy), Kopeikin, Andrew (US Military Academy), Bristow, Elizabeth (United States Military Academy), Bluman, James (United States Military Academy)

Feasibility Study for a MEDEVAC Electric UAS Capability

Scheduled for presentation during the Regular Session "UAS Applications III" (ThA2), Thursday, June 13, 2019, 10:00−10:20, Heritage C

2020 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), June 11-14, 2019, Athens, Greece

This information is tentative and subject to change. Compiled on April 23, 2024

Abstract

This study examines the feasibility of integrating medical subsystems into an existing Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) platform to facilitate medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) from combat environments. The implementation of a MEDEVAC-capable UAS is found to be a feasible and logical expansion of current MEDEVAC assets. A comprehensive review of current fully- or semi-autonomous electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) UAS technologies is conducted to select a candidate aircraft. A conceptual design of the MEDEVAC UAS, configured with equipment needed to sustain a casualty during evacuation is created. The smaller form factor of the system opens the opportunity to pre-deploy MEDEVAC assets to forward combat posts, improve response times, and offer evacuation options when manned assets are denied. The predicted range performance of the system supports such a concept of operation.