Heavy transport drones, an augmented version of the familiar quadcopters, have become “larger and cheaper” in recent years, according to New Scientist. While they do not yet meet the safety standards required for passenger aircraft, some could be used to “evacuate injured soldiers from combat” or “transport individuals clandestinely.”
In Ukraine, where the constant threat of aerial attacks complicates the evacuation of the wounded, these drones are being tested, as reported by the scientific journal, referring to statements made by the chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, in August 2025.
“This type of drones will inevitably emerge, as advanced medical care for a severely injured soldier within an hour dramatically increases the survival rate,” says Roy Gardiner, associated with the nonprofit group Defense Tech for Ukraine.
While drones may not have the medical equipment and stability of medical helicopters, they “will allow for faster and more comfortable transport than ground robots controlled remotely, previously deployed in hard-to-reach areas.”
Fear of criminal or terrorist use
However, another group that could benefit from the development of this human transport technology is criminals, points out science journalist David Hambling. Because while small drones make smuggling easier in prisons, “their larger equivalents could exfiltrate detainees,” as reported in New Scientist. They could also “transport armed terrorists to secure areas,” without consideration for physical obstacles (high walls, rivers, ditches).
In this sense, the intelligence company DroneSec, based in Australia, highlights in its latest report a video from the Pakistani armed Islamist group Lashkar-e-Toiba, “already known for smuggling weapons and narcotics on the Indo-Pakistani border,” in which a drone can be seen “transporting a passenger over short distances in a training camp.”
While the use of this technology for commercial purposes should necessarily be conditioned by “numerous security devices” and testing “in all kinds of conditions before being put into service,” the use of such drones for criminal purposes raises concerns about endangering human lives.
