Drones Modified For Medical Supply Drops in Ukraine.

• Author: Luckenbaugh, Josh

ARLINGTON, Virginia--A company specializing in unmanned aerial vehicles has modified a drone to deliver vital medical supplies to Ukrainian civilians in hard-to-reach areas.

Draganfly, a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based company, which has manufactured drones for the military and government sectors for more than two decades, recently partnered with the U.S. nonprofit Revived Soldiers Ukraine to provide a fleet of their UAVs for humanitarian efforts.

The company initially donated three drones in March, but Revived Soldiers Ukraine purchased an additional 10 aircraft, with the expectation that Draganfly "will deliver up to a couple hundred drones" by the end of the year, said Draganfly CEO Cameron Chell.

The medical response drones can carry up to 35 pounds of supplies in a temperature-managed box, a Draganfly press release said. The average drone conducts five missions per day and has a range of 12.4 miles, Chell added.

One of the challenges Draganfly and its partners in Ukraine are facing is that civilians don't always know whether they can trust that a drone is friendly, he said.

"What we found quite quickly over there is that if you put a drone on the ground, people are not all that excited to come out and meet the drone and take...