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Video by Capt. Jennifer French

Reel: 173rd Airborne Brigade, NATO Allies Test Drone Blood Resupply During Swift Response 2025 in Lithuania

173rd Airborne Brigade

May 15, 2025 | 0:23

U.S. Army paratroopers assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, alongside multinational medical teams, integrated drone-based blood resupply during the multinational Hospital Exercise (HOSPEX) as part of Swift Response 2025 on May 15.

The exercise marked a first for the brigade, using the TRV-150 drone to deliver simulated blood to field care locations. The goal: enhance survivability and speed in austere, contested environments where traditional medical resupply is high-risk.

“We want to buy time,” said Maj. David Hourani, surgeon for the 173rd Airborne Brigade. “The thing that buys the most time for us is blood. So here, we’ve been using simulated blood to test methods of resupply to get blood as far forward as possible to sustain life for as long as possible and make death wait just a little bit longer.”

HOSPEX validated forward medical operations from Role 3 to Role 1, including tactical medical evacuation and damage control surgery.

U.S. participants included the 173rd Airborne Brigade, 160th Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment, 519th Field Hospital, 68th Theater Medical Command, and the 7384th Blood Detachment.

NATO Role 2 Enhanced medical teams and Lithuanian Armed Forces medics also conducted joint trauma lanes and mass casualty drills, building interoperability and strengthening combat medical readiness across the Alliance.

As the U.S. Army’s Contingency Response Force in Europe, the 173rd Airborne Brigade maintains a forward presence in Italy and Germany, ready to deploy rapidly across the U.S. European, African, and Central Command areas of responsibility. Regular training with NATO allies and partners ensures readiness and reinforces collective defense.

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(U.S. Army video by Capt. Jennifer French)