Aerial Fire Fighting 2026

As Tangent Link’s Aerial Fire Fighting (AFF) series approaches its 20th anniversary, the first event of 2026 in Rome, on 24–26 March, acknowledges the truly global nature of the mission with the move to AFF Global, which will become the annual flagship event.

Twenty years ago, aerial firefighting was a niche mission within the global fire community, largely confined to states or nations with high-value at-risk challenges, such as California. Fast-forward to today, and more than 100 nations either have, or are considering, aerial capabilities to support land and forest management, as well as wildfire suppression. The dramatic increase in global wildfires over the past decade, moving beyond historic seasonal patterns, has triggered a broader societal response, with resilience, recovery, and forest management rightly receiving greater focus. The traditional aerial role of suppression is now more acutely considered within both wildfire and land management contexts.

It is against this background that AFF Global in Rome will focus its conference program on the question of enhancing outcomes. Previous editions have examined in detail key aspects of the mission: training, safety, new technology, and capability development. Against a backdrop of a veritable explosion of innovation and private capital funding a plethora of new solutions, the conference will not only look closely at many of these developments, but also assess how the aerial fire community can enhance its value to its stakeholders, primarily the citizens, property, and wildlands it is entrusted to protect.

This year’s event is held in partnership with the Corpo Nazionale dei Vigili del Fuoco (Italian National Fire Brigade Corps) and the Global Fire Monitoring Center, and detailed panel and presentation discussions on day one will begin by examining enhancing outcomes across Italian fire and wildfire stakeholder groups. The conversation will then turn to the Balkans, France, and key enabling capabilities, including uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and sensors, as well as the challenges and opportunities arising from the vast increase in both the quality and quantity of data and its utilization. Day two will take a global perspective, with key presentations from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN FAO), and Turkish, US, and European Union (EU) leaders, alongside focus panels featuring senior stakeholders and practitioners from Canada, Australia, and the USA. Senior government delegations from around the world, including Thailand, Bulgaria, and Brazil, will make this the most globally representative AFF event to date.

Rome 2026 will provide an important forum for shaping the future direction of the global aerial fire community.

Last year’s European event was attended and reported on by AirMed&Rescue.