Iranian recue UAVs

hey - this came up on another forum - simply from its SAR angle , but :

Iranian rescue UAV

has to be presented to ATS - it just pushes too many key buttons

the summary - Iranian techs have modified a small UAV to carry and drop floatation aids for swimmers in distress

while it cannot fully replace a lifeguard / rescue boat - it is fast : in tests it could drop a floatation aid 75m off shore with 1m accuracy , in 22 seconds , beating a human rescue swimmer by 68 seconds - from the same starting point

as I say - a swimmer / boat - is still needed to recover the casualty to shore - but over larger distances - the speed advantage is greater - and could make a big different to keeping the casualty alive till human rescuers can react them


UAVs - are a hot topic world wide in SAR this year - with many rescue agencies world wide conducting some sort of study into their feasibility .

reply to post by ignorant_ape


Great to see them used to save people instead of weapons of war

reply to post by ignorant_ape

while it cannot fully replace a lifeguard / rescue boat - it is fast : in tests it could drop a floatation aid 75m off shore with 1m accuracy , in 22 seconds , beating a human rescue swimmer by 68 seconds - from the same starting point

Sounds like a good thing, but as it said in the article their biggest problem will be the weather and hopefully something can be figured out.

reply to post by ignorant_ape


I think I seen this puppy in use ...well it was on a TV show ,maybe Dailey Planet or something like that just last night .It was carrying 3 round floats and would go over the person in trouble and drop one and then move on to the next ..It was one of those 4 blade helicopters and carried 3 floats .. Neat thing to use to get to someone really fast .

edit to add that that is the one I watched ..I guess it has more than 4 blades but that is the one ,so there is a vid somewhere kicking around that shows it in operation

Well, I think that specific use is a pretty sorry and weak excuse to not work their lifeguards for a living. There is no shortage these days of reality TV (as in embed, not rigged) with periods on Coast Guard rescue missions or other similar things. Ever see how many times a floater doesn't work, they're too tired or confused to use it or something else is an issue? I think the para guys just assume they're jumping, every time, no matter what..and it's just a really happy bonus when someone actually uses something offered without being in the water with them. Just my opinion......

With this thing? the exhausted and drowning person is half way closer to checking out by the time they figure out the donut didnt work for someone and they STILL need to do what should be done the 1st time..only now, minutes lost and maybe a survivor turned into a casualty. Oh...I can see it here too. Saves on Lifeguards...


I'll tell ya where this WOULD make sense.. GPS trackers those can home in on and track straight to on bracelets to everyone onboard a cruise ship. "lose someone?" launch the recovery drone and, to be cliche, 'Follow that drone!'...

I'd say the same for S.A.R.. You could launch a couple dozen drones in all directions around an area to just criss cross with thermal and infrared until, systematically and as quick as a computer can calculate it, every square inch of whole square miles are looked at without missing a one.

It's not the tech...just the uses, I think is really boneheaded at times.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


no where does it claim that this will replace life guards

its pretty clear - the UAV drops a floation aid - as a FIRST response to assist the casualty WHILE the human responders arrive

its simple :

with the UAV - the causalty spends a minuite with a floatation aid and knows that a rescue response is underway

without UAV the casualty is on their own for 1 minuite longer and may not even know that rescue response is underway

which would you prefer ?

The programme, Prototype This made one of these, a bloody great episode IMO:

Prototype this


The swimmer in trouble pushed an emergency button, then a UAV catapulted off and dropped a life preserver, if the swimmer were closer to shore, they had these auto targetted wind cannons to fire out a life vest.

Tremendous effort!

That is some interesting technology for saving lives. I would still like to see it in action.

a bump for the thread :

a " similar system " is currently on trail in australia - and has been credited with saving 2 swimmers :

source

OBVIOUSLY rescue swimmers etc were on hand too - but as the BBC reports - this was the first deployment of the system in a real rescue [ not a exercise ] and it worked