U.S. Army awards drone blood-delivery prototype contract to Delta Development and Good Drone Company

Delta Development Team and The Good Drone Company have received a U.S. Army contract for aerial blood delivery under the Army Blood Link programme. The Good Drone Company will provide two U.S.-built hybrid vertical-takeoff-and-landing prototypes, each designed to carry up to six units of blood. Delta will supply six Delta ICE 2L Smart Blood Coolers.

Each cooler holds two units of blood or blood products and records their temperature during transport. The programme requires three hours of temperature control in high humidity and ambient temperatures ranging from 15°F to 120°F. Bluetooth and cellular connectivity support monitoring and blood accountability as the cargo moves through the delivery process.

The prototype aircraft are intended to deliver within ten metres of a designated location during day or night operations. Requirements include communications over up to 30 miles, semi-autonomous waypoint navigation and single-person operation with limited training. The partners will integrate existing commercial aircraft and cooling technologies for the Army programme.

Army Blood Link sits within the Armed Services Blood Program, which supplies blood products to U.S. forces. The project develops another resupply route for circumstances where terrain, damaged infrastructure or operating conditions delay ground transport. Its engineering work combines cargo carriage and delivery control with maintaining the blood’s required temperature throughout the journey.

The Good Drone Company, based in Tempe, Arizona, develops hybrid VTOL cargo aircraft for middle-mile logistics. Tucson-based Delta Development Team specialises in prehospital blood storage, transport and monitoring. Their contract joins those aircraft and cold-chain systems in a prototype medical-logistics capability.