Casualty evacuation fails at the same place civilian rescue does — the last stretch. A marsh, a river crossing, a treeline with no clearing, a road that is mined or observed. The aircraft cannot land there; the ground vehicle cannot get in. BECCARII is designed for exactly that stretch.
CASEVAC
Wounded are recovered from ground that admits neither a helicopter nor a wheeled vehicle: marshland, riverbanks, flooded ditches, broken terrain. The vehicle drives in where it can, lifts over what it cannot cross, lands on tracks built for unprepared ground, and drives back out. The propellers are inside the tracks, so vegetation and debris at the landing point are a nuisance rather than a mission stop.
A low, short hop is also a smaller signature than a sustained hover.
Border and coastal patrol
Long duration on station matters more than dash speed. A machine that can sit on the ground — or float on the water — and then lift on demand spends its energy budget where it counts. Surface movement costs roughly twenty times less than flight, so endurance is measured in hours.
Special operations
Insertion and extraction without a prepared landing site, and without the noise profile of a sustained approach. The vehicle can arrive on the ground, cross water, and depart vertically from a point it selected rather than one the terrain dictated.
Anti-poaching and remote patrol
Wetlands, river deltas and bush with no roads and no landing sites. One machine covers ground, water and air, so a patrol does not need a boat, a truck and an aircraft — with the logistics that implies.
Polar, volcanic and glacier operations
Surfaces that carry tracks and defeat wheels: snow, scree, ash fields, crevassed ice where the safe route changes daily.
Why the architecture fits
- No prepared site required — the tracked undercarriage is the landing gear.
- Propeller protection — the structure that meets the ground is also the guard.
- Distributed electric propulsion — eight units; safe landing with two inoperative.
- Amphibious hull — a river is a route, not a boundary.
- Fewer parts — no differential, no gearbox, no drive shafts.
Programme context
BECCARII is a finalist in the GoAERO Prize, with the Fly-Off at NASA Ames, Moffett Federal Airfield. The propulsion system is covered by a granted patent family with 2012 priority — see the patent page. Development is run by B-Technology Sp. z o.o. in Poland, with in-house CNC machining, composites and prototyping.
See also: maritime SAR · technology · fact sheet
Design features that matter here
- Shrouded propellers. The propellers sit inside the tracks, so branches, debris, netting and cable do not end the mission. It is also a safety question for anyone working directly beside the vehicle.
- Propulsion redundancy. Eight independent electric units; losing two still allows a safe landing on the remaining six.
- No required infrastructure. No runway, no helipad, no vertiport, no harbour. The base is wherever the vehicle happens to be.
- Simplified drivetrain. Putting the drive inside the track removes the differential, the gearbox and the drive shafts — fewer parts is fewer field failures.
- Electric propulsion. A lower acoustic and thermal signature than combustion alternatives, and onboard power for equipment without a separate generator.
On dual use
The same machine that evacuates a casualty from a battlefield evacuates one from flooded ground. The airframe is common; the difference lies in the cabin fit and the procedures. BECCARII is designed as a rescue platform with dual-use applications, not as combat equipment — the vehicle is not a weapons platform.
Patent protection
The propulsion architecture is covered by a granted patent family with priority of 7 June 2012: US9364766B2 (United States), CA2875745C (Canada), EP2858730B1 (European Patent, 38 designated states) and EA029796B1 (Eurasian Patent). PCT application: WO2013182708A1. Inventor: Witold Mielniczek. Proprietor: B-Technology Sp. z o.o. Details on the patent page.
Frequently asked questions
Is BECCARII armed?
No. It is a rescue and transport platform; it is not a weapons platform.
Does a CASEVAC pickup need a secured landing zone?
It lands on unprepared ground and covers the final stretch on tracks, which removes the need to prepare and hold a landing site.
How does it help border patrol?
A land border rarely follows a road. One vehicle patrols at air speed and responds on the ground, without calling in a second unit.
Related
Rapid ambulance · Disaster response · Maritime search and rescue · Wersja polska