AFF Asia-Pacific 2026: enhancing outcomes through collaboration

More than 300 senior practitioners, agency leaders, and industry partners from nine Pacific nations came together at AFF Asia-Pacific to examine critical aspects of aerial missions in wildland fire and fuel management. The conference theme for Tangent Link’s global AFF events in 2026 (Rome in March and Gold Coast), ‘Enhancing outcomes’, followed on from 2025’s focus on the ‘Crisis of (aerial) capacity’.

Joe Buffone expertly guided delegates through two days of engaging and wide-ranging discussion, following a Welcome to Country from Uncle John Graham. Keynote addresses from Steve Smith, Commissioner, Queensland Fire Department, and Trent Curtin, Commissioner, NSW Rural Fire Service, helped set the tone for the conference.

The first day opened with Dr Matt Plucinski of CSIRO presenting evidence on aerial firefighting effectiveness in Australia, before moving into Queensland-focused discussions on managing complex island incidents and the long-term vision for Queensland’s aerial mission capability, led by Matthew Bulow. The afternoon sessions explored the future of unmanned aerial systems with the panel ‘UAS – what is needed to enable universal usage in the AFF mission’, before turning to safety and operational best practice through ‘Making our skies safer’ and ‘Air crew: working better together’. Insightful presentations from TracPlus, McDermott Aviation, and Coulson Aviation showcased innovative capabilities, operational experience and emerging approaches to aerial firefighting.

The second day tackled broader strategic challenges, beginning with ‘Thinking outside the box’ before considering how to make Australia’s aerial firefighting capability truly ‘Australia’ through common standards and practices. Delegates then explored ‘Budget realities vs expectations’ and the increasingly complex ‘Contracting environment’, examining both the challenges and opportunities facing agencies and operators. Following these discussions, valuable international perspectives were provided by Stephen Bishop of Fire and Emergency New Zealand, who examined the hidden risks behind successful aerial firefighting, and Captain Roslan Bin Aziz of the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia, who assessed the evolution and long-term sustainability of aerial firefighting and search and rescue operations. A timely panel on ‘The future of cooperation’, featuring participants from California, New Zealand, France, and Australia, explored the continued development of global standards, collaboration, and operational best practice. The program also featured an excellent presentation from Dan Reese of Blazetamer380, who challenged delegates to rethink future suppression strategies.

Whilst participants went home tired, they also went home with new knowledge, fresh perspectives, and stronger professional relationships across the region. Tangent Link now looks forward to welcoming the global aerial firefighting community once again at AFF Global 2027, taking place in Anaheim, California, USA, from 2–4 March 2027.