Land Rover Creates Discovery Rescue Vehicle, Complete With A Drone On The Roof

Land Rover revealed a special, bespoke version of the Discovery specifically made for the Austrian Red Cross called Project Hero at the Geneva Motor Show.

The company’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) designed and engineered the unique Discovery which will be trialed by the emergency response teams of the Red Cross.

‘Project Hero’ is also the first vehicle with a roof-mounted drone. SVO has installed a fully integrated landing system on the roof, featuring self-centering and magnetic retention technology, enabling the drone to land on the car, even if it’s in motion.

The drone can transmit live footage back to the emergency response teams, helping them act more quickly and effectively to landslides, earthquakes, floods and avalanches.

Land Rover has been a long-time supporter of the Red Cross since 1954, having supplied 120 vehicles to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the world’s largest humanitarian network.

“The new Discovery is an outstanding all-terrain SUV, and Project Hero is the optimum combination of enhanced capability and innovative technology,” said John Edwards, Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations Managing Director. “We hope to help the Red Cross save lives in emergency situations.”

“Project Hero combines the best expertise of the Red Cross and Jaguar Land Rover to create a truly unique vehicle, which we hope will be capable of making a difference to rescue operations in the toughest environments,” said Dr Jemilah Mahmood, IFRC Under Secretary General for Partnerships.

Project Hero is based on the 3.0-litre V6 TD6 version of the new Land Rover Discovery and in addition to the drone technology also features a heavy-duty sliding floor in the rear load space, a segregation panel behind the rear seats, extra LED lighting to aid night vision and innovative power supply points which accept multiple plug arrangements from different regions.

The Project Hero will be based at the Austrian Red Cross training centre in Erzberg and in Vienna for 12 months, starting from June 2017.