Colorado tests precision-guided aerial wildfire suppression system

Colorado’s Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting (CoE) is testing a precision-guided system designed to deliver water to emerging wildfires from aircraft operating at higher altitudes.

The Precision Guided Suppression Unit (PGSU), developed by public safety technology company Prime Minute, can be released from an aircraft at up to 12,000ft above ground level before navigating towards a predetermined target.

The approximately 1,000lb (454kg) unit carries 110gal (379L) of water and uses GPS guidance, onboard flight controls, and aerodynamic control surfaces to adjust its trajectory according to wind and weather conditions.

On reaching its target, the PGSU disperses its payload across a suppression radius of approximately 35ft (11m).

The technology is intended to provide another option for initial attack when conditions such as smoke, severe weather, terrain, or darkness restrict conventional aerial firefighting operations.

Traditional aerial suppression can require aircraft to operate comparatively low over a fire. The PGSU concept instead allows an aircraft to deploy multiple guided units from altitude, with individual units directed towards different areas of an emerging wildfire.

“This technology offers a unique opportunity to deliver rapid initial attack from new heights,” said Anthony Somogyi, Aviation Projects Manager for the CoE. “Traditional aerial suppression tools are sometimes limited by the need to fly low and slow over the fire, which restricts when and where they can be used safely. The PGSU allows us to suppress new and emerging wildfires in situations and environments that have previously been out of reach.”

Testing operational integration

The CoE, which forms part of Colorado’s Division of Fire Prevention and Control, is conducting operational testing, evaluation, and validation of the system.

Testing will assess the PGSU’s safety, precision, and accuracy, as well as how the deployment of multiple units could be incorporated into existing wildfire response operations.

The aim is to establish whether precision-guided water delivery could enable earlier intervention in what the CoE describes as “denied environments” – situations in which conditions restrict or delay firefighters’ ability to attack a wildfire safely.

The evaluation will ultimately determine whether the technology could provide firefighters with an additional aerial suppression capability for targeting fires while they remain small, particularly when conventional aircraft operations are constrained.

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