Among the interesting innovations presented in the latest edition of Farnborough International Airshow (22-26 July 2024), the T-650 UAS stands out BAE Systems in CASEVAC (Casualty evacuation) configuration. It is an interesting product, at the basis of which there is an important strategic reflection on the concepts of risk and opportunities on the contemporary battlefield.
The CASEVAC version is one of the "modular" versions of the BAE Systems UAV, while the offensive one is equipped with LWT Sting Rays, designed by the then GEC-Marconi, now BAE's integrated technological systems division.
Over the course of recent history, with the Vietnam War making history - and Hollywood films also contributing - images of wounded soldiers being transported to a helicopter landing in a contested area for an emergency evacuation .
With the increasingly massive use of A2/AD tactics (Anti-Access / Denial Area), landing a helicopter on the battlefield to evacuate seriously wounded would, with a very high probability, result in the helicopter and its crew also leaving the wounded on the ground.
Although it was not strictly a casualty evacuation operation, the well-known Battle of Mogadishu (3-4 October 1993), during which two US UH-60 helicopters were shot down Black Hawk, is a clear example of the situation where helicopters would find themselves in a highly contested area with enemies using “denial of access” tactics. Emergency evacuation operations of the wounded could, therefore, no longer be entrusted to a rotary-wing aircraft, but to a specially designed drone.
The CASEVAC version of the T-650, which was created as an anti-submarine drone, is capable of holding and transporting weights exceeding 300 kg (which is the average weight of a soldier with full equipment, stretcher and protective medical capsule) and is equipped with a medical capsule capable of detecting the vital parameters of the wounded soldier lying inside and protected with a ballistic cover to withstand the shots of small arms (which are, presumably, those that would be used by an enemy who, during a clash fire between infantry, identified the T-650 engaged in its operations).
The objective is twofold: to avoid putting a helicopter at risk and to increase the safety of the injured during the evacuation.
The T-650 CASEVAC could fly at an average height between 30 and 60 meters (this explains the need to adequately armor the capsule), with a navigation system equipped with GPS/GNSS and SATCOM, so as to guarantee the flow of data , while specific sensors would be take-off and landing.
A fully operational prototype should be ready between the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, as hoped by BAE Systems. Above all, an integrated platform that highlights the importance of being equipped with modular drones and the development of faster and less risky procedures in the fields of military healthcare and field medicine.
Photo: author
