Army medics were moving blood to the frontlines with drones in a major recent exercise

When medics with the 173rd Airborne Brigade called for blood supplies to treat combat wounds in a major exercise last month, the flying machines slashed life-saving minutes in transport time and used fewer troops to do it.

“The difference is someone dying and someone not, because four minutes is substantially faster than 20 or 30,” said 1st Sgt. Cyril Clayton, a senior medic with the 173rd Brigade. “As far as risk to the force goes, we’ve cut it from probably five to two.”

The Army has long relied on the bravery of helicopter pilots or fast-moving ground vehicles to get medical resources into the hands of medics treating wounded soldiers on the frontlines, including blood supplies. In a recent exercise held in Lithuania, that meant moving blood supplies three to four kilometers, which co