AP got first access to StarGate, SkyFall's medevac drone, and the origin story says a lot.
The Origin
Flint, commander of the 475th Assault Regiment (Code 9.2), went to SkyFall's founder with a simple request. He wanted a safer way to pull wounded soldiers out of positions no vehicle can reach.
SkyFall is the same company that makes the Vampire strike drones Russians call Baba Yaga. Same engineers. Same speed of iteration. Now pointed at keeping people alive.
The Problem
In a kill zone with constant shelling and mines, an evacuation vehicle often turns one casualty into three. A drone skips both the minefield and the road.
In October 2026 StarGate went to a combat brigade for real front-line testing. That verdict will come from the line, not from a press demo.
The Numbers
- Payload: up to 150 kg, enough for a soldier in full kit and body armor
- Range: 15 km one way
- Speed: 65 km/h cruise, up to 105 km/h max
- Links: Starlink plus SkyFall's own L-Link
- Price: from $50,000 depending on configuration
- Production goal: up to 1,000 units per month by end of 2026
Work it out. 10 km at cruise speed is roughly 9 minutes. At top speed it is under 6. That leaves most of the golden hour for the surgeon instead of the road.
Built for Russian EW
The AI lets it navigate without GPS and through jamming. If the link dies completely, it plans its own route back to a safe zone. It carries a net launcher against hostile drones and keeps flying after losing one of its rotor arms.
Someone designed this around what the Russian electronic warfare environment actually does to aircraft. It was not designed around a brochure.
Why the Price Matters
$50,000 is small next to a trained infantryman. It's also small compared with the months it takes to replace one. If SkyFall hits even a fraction of 1,000 a month, evacuation stops depending on whether a crew survives a drive to a position under observation.
That changes how brigades plan assaults. It also changes how long wounded veterans keep serving afterward.
Moscow's war machine sees its own wounded as expendable. Ukraine is building flying ambulances on a production line.
For Western partners funding this industry, the whole strategic case fits into one product. Money here buys soldiers who live. Soldiers who live keep Russian tanks away from NATO borders.
