ParaZero develops parachute system to deliver blood to troops in the field
By DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill
A system designed by an Israeli company to airdrop emergency supplies to military units is being used to safely deliver units of blood supplies to enable medical personnel to accomplish transfusions on the battlefield.
Using its DropAir parachute delivery systems, ParaZero recently successfully concluded tests in which it completed 50 consecutive deliveries of blood and supplies, proving the system’s reliability for use in real-life operations. The system, which the company developed in conjunction with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, is currently being used by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Amir Lavi, ParaZero’s head of marketing, said in an interview.
“In the event of casualties in the combat force, the paramedic can order on his tablet a specific blood transfusion. A drone will automatically come to the point, hover above and parachute drop a blood transfusion,” Lavi said.
Designing a system to allow drones to air drop precious blood supplies under battlefield conditions presented a multitude of challenges, including making sure that the payload makes it down to earth on target and is not allowed to drift in the wind, as well as ensuring that the impact of the landing does not damage the precious package of blood.
Under the DropAir system, the drone hovers as high as 600 feet above the target to release the package. The package is allowed to free fall for a specified period of time before the parachute system is deployed, to keep it from being carried away from the target by the wind. Then a small parachute will get deployed, which pulls out a larger chute that slows the package’s descent and lessens the force of impact on the ground.
“That way we minimize the drift in any sort of weather condition,” Lavi said. The drift is minimized to withing a few feet of the target. “We don’t miss the target, but we also minimize the impact energy to such a level that the blood can endure.”
In its recent test flights, ParaZero loaded several packages, each weighing five kilos, roughly 11 pounds, beneath a heavy-lift DJI FlyCart. The system is designed to drop as many as five packages at a time. “We made sure that it works 50 out of 50 times because the system needs to be military grade,” he said.
In addition to being used in military operations, the DropAir system can be used in non-combat situations, such as delivering food and supplies to victims of natural disasters or dropping inflatable lifeboats and lifejackets during a flooding event.
In addition to deploying aboard DJI FlyCarts, ParaZero has also mounted its air-drop platform on drones designed by Israel-based military technology company, Elbit Systems, and a second Israeli company called Haven Drones.
“We can integrate into any drone,” Lavi said. “We’re only limited by the weight that the drone can carry.”
Lavi said IDF troops are currently deploying the DropAir system, although he declined to say how many units the Israeli government has purchased from the company.
ParaZero is also looking to market its technology to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), and recently showed off its products to DOD officials at a demonstration day event in North Carolina.
Ensuring that the skies are safe for drone operators and the general public has been part of ParaZero’s DNA from the beginning. The company was established in 2014 by two entrepreneurs, Amir Tsaliah and Ran Regev, in the desert city of Be’er Sheva, in southern Israel. Using drones such as the old DJI S800 and S900 models, the pair became the first people in Israel to offer aerial photography and videography.
“One day, while preparing for a shoot at one of Israel’s largest music festivals, they experienced a life-threatening incident. During a routine practice session, the drone malfunctioned and crashed, missing Amir by just a meter (approximately three feet),” according to the company’s website. “Thanks to Ran’s swift reaction, Amir was able to duck and avoid the collision.”
The accident was an “aha!” moment for the two founders who made it their mission going forward to devise a parachute system for drones to enable them to come to earth safely in the event of a malfunction, Lavi said.
“So, they reached out to DJI and started developing the first parachute recovery system,” Lavi said. “We’ve been doing a partial recovery system for all the DJI lineups since the Phantom 4.”
Since its founding, the company has been working with aviation regulators around the world — FAA, European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) — on getting regulatory approvals for its safety-oriented products.
“The first waiver to fly over people was with a ParaZero system on board. CNN got approvals thanks to us,” Lavi said. Other early adopters of the company’s parachute technology for drones include Fox News and the Chicago Police Department.
ParaZero continues to work with drone and manned aviation companies around the world to ensure the safer operation of UAVs. It is currently working with Austin-based LIFT Aircraft to develop a parachute system for that company’s Hexa, a personal electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle. It is also partnering with Italy’s eVTOL producer Jetson.
“We have more than 10,000 operational units around the world. We’ve sold many more than that, but those are the operational units,” Lavi said.
In 2023 the company entered a defense sector offering its DropAir system as well as a multi-layered system for drone detection and neutralization to military customers.
As an Israel-based company, ParaZero has faced intense challenges in recent days. “The last two weeks with the whole Iran situation were quite scary,” Lavi said. “We’re determined to continue our quote-unquote normal life. We come to work, our families are going or we do fun stuff as well. That’s what we’re fighting for, to continue our way of life.”
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Jim Magill is a Houston-based writer with almost a quarter-century of experience covering technical and economic developments in the oil and gas industry. After retiring in December 2019 as a senior editor with S&P Global Platts, Jim began writing about emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robots and drones, and the ways in which they’re contributing to our society. In addition to DroneLife, Jim is a contributor to Forbes.com and his work has appeared in the Houston Chronicle, U.S. News & World Report, and Unmanned Systems, a publication of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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