A U.S. Marine loads simulated blood onto a Tactical Resupply Unmanned Aircraft System at Townsville Field Training Area in Queensland, Australia, July 23, 2026. (Nan Yang/U.S. Marine Corps)
U.S. Marines used a drone to deliver simulated blood during a multinational exercise in Australia this month, testing a medical resupply capability designed to sustain troops across dispersed battlefields
Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 5 flew TRAUS — the Tactical Resupply Unmanned Aircraft System — during Predator’s Run, which runs through Thursday at Queensland’s Townsville Field Training Area
The exercise is part of Marine Rotation Force-Darwin’s six-month deployment to the Northern Territory and focuses on preparing U.S., Australian and Philippine troops to operate together in contested environments
TRAUS carried a small, refrigerated container holding simulated blood about a mile and a half from an Australian aid station to a U.S. Marine aid station on Thursday, rotational force spokesman Capt. Kevin Hicks said by phone Sunday
A video posted Monday on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service shows a Marine strapping a container underneath a drone before it lifts off a dusty field
Two Marines can operate TRAUS, which can carry up to 150 pounds of cargo — ammunition, batteries, food and medical supplies — for about 9 miles, according to a 2023 Marine Corps news release and Naval Air Systems Command
A U.S. Marine loads simulated blood onto a Tactical Resupply Unmanned Aircraft System at Townsville Field Training Area in Queensland, Australia, July 23, 2026. (Caleb Goodwin/U.S. Marine Corps)
“TRUAS is designed to provide rapid and assured, highly automated aerial distribution to small units operating in contested environments,” Master Sgt. Chris Genualdi, an airborne and air delivery specialist with Combat Development, said in the release
The battery-powered, eight-rotor drone flies preprogrammed routes using waypoint navigation at speeds up to 60 mph and typically operates about 400 feet above the ground. Developed by Britain’s Malloy Aeronautics and Maryland-based SURVICE Engineering, it entered Marine Corps service in 2023 with 3rd Littoral Logistics Battalion at Marine Corps Base Hawaii
The logistics drone is one of several unmanned systems being used during Predator’s Run
Marines also flew four Archer drones for reconnaissance and simulated strike missions during exercise, Hicks said. The aircraft, built by California-based Neros Technologies, can carry anti-personnel and anti-armor munitions and strike targets more than 12 miles away, according to the manufacturer
About 250 Marines are training alongside roughly 1,000 soldiers from the Australian army’s 1st Brigade and 120 troops from the Philippine army’s 1st Brigade Combat Team during the annual exercise
The Marines traveled to Townsville from Darwin on July 16, making the 32-hour bus trip before beginning the training, Maj. Joseph Adams, commander of Blackfoot Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, said by phone from Queensland on Sunday
The rotational force arrived in the Northern Territory in March for the annual deployment, which has included training in the Philippines before moving to Queensland for Predator’s Run
Marines
Seth Robson
Seth Robson
Seth Robson is a Tokyo-based reporter who has been with Stars and Stripes since 2003. He has been stationed in Japan, South Korea and Germany, with frequent assignments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Australia and the Philippines.
