The Israeli company Urban Aeronautics created AirMule, a drone capable of carrying loads of up to half a ton. The equipment was developed primarily for military use, to be used in missions in hard to reach places where conventional helicopters can’t access.
“[It could fly to] anyone out in the field who needs water, food, batteries, supplies, medical equipment and so forth,” Rafi Yoeli told the BBC. “Later, it could be used to fetch soldiers that you don’t want to leave behind or are wounded. There are plenty of situations where you cannot send a helicopter – for example, in the middle of fighting where you want to evacuate people from a street or from a narrow roof. Eventually, there could be civilian applications, such as rescue missions in the mountains or flying into disaster areas – for example, nuclear facilities where no person in a helicopter could get in.”
Still in testing phase, AirMule flies completely autonomously: take-off, maneuvers, landing, everything is done by the device’s navigation system and the Israeli aircraft can reach speeds of up to 180 km/h.
