Two American helicopter crew members spent roughly two hours in the water near the Strait of Hormuz before a 24-foot unmanned Navy boat reached them and carried them to shore. It was the first known drone rescue at sea by the U.

It's not just boats. Unmanned systems of all types, including air and ground vehicles, are rescue tools changing military medicine and casualty care.

A US drone boat conducted a first-of-its-kind rescue mission to save the crew of an American Apache helicopter that crashed near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, the military said. The 24-foot Saronic Corsair autonomous surface vessel,