Coulson Aviation moves forward with EmberWorks, its dedicated innovation division

Coulson Aviation’s EmberWorks, its dedicated innovation division, was created to turn real-world operational challenges into new capabilities for aerial firefighting, aviation, and emergency response.

First introduced at the Aerial Fire Fighting Global Conference in Rome earlier this year, EmberWorks formalizes an approach to innovation that has existed throughout Coulson’s history. From aircraft modification and mission-system development to programs such as C-130 airtanker, Boeing 737 Fireliner, and CH-47 Chinook helicopter, Coulson has long developed solutions in response to real-world operational needs. EmberWorks builds on that history by giving this approach a dedicated structure and a broader path forward.

What sets EmberWorks apart is its position within an active global aerial firefighting organization. Across the wildfire industry, specialized technologies such as fire retardant, airborne sensing, and mission systems are typically developed independently. EmberWorks brings these disciplines together with direct access to the people, aircraft, and infrastructure needed to develop, integrate, and evaluate new capabilities in an operational setting.

“The fire service does not need technology for technology’s sake. It needs information and tools that fit the way people actually operate on an incident,” said Stu Sprung, Vice President of EmberWorks. “We can start with an operational problem, work directly with the people experiencing it, develop a solution, and evaluate it in the environment where it ultimately needs to perform. That feedback loop is fundamental to EmberWorks.”

While wildfire and aerial firefighting are the immediate focus, EmberWorks is structured around operational challenges rather than a fixed portfolio of technologies, allowing the division to pursue new capabilities as agency requirements and operating environments evolve.

That work is already underway. In airborne intelligence, EmberWorks is developing ORBIT, a sensing and mission technology designed to make operational aircraft active contributors to the incident intelligence picture. Initial systems are installed aboard two tactical aerial supervision aircraft, providing an operational platform to develop and evaluate capabilities that can improve situational awareness and decision-making. Additional applications are being implemented for Coulson’s C-130 and 737 airtankers and helicopter platforms.

EmberWorks is also advancing suppression science through Coulson Fire Retardant (CFR), which combines advanced chemistry with decades of aerial firefighting and retardant delivery experience to develop next-generation suppression solutions. Beginning with CFR HALO, the program brings real-world operational insight to the development of improved burn resistance, coverage consistency, aircraft compatibility, operational efficiency, and greater operating margins for flight crews.

“Coulson has spent decades developing solutions because the operation demanded something better,” said Britt Coulson, President and COO of Coulson Aviation. “EmberWorks gives that mindset a dedicated home. We have the aircraft, the operators, the technical expertise, and the operational environment to develop and test new ideas within our own organization, creating a direct path from identifying a problem to proving a solution.”

As EmberWorks moves forward, Coulson plans to introduce new programs and partnerships as they reach meaningful development, testing, and operational milestones. Its first programs are focused on wildfire challenges shared by agencies around the world, with the model designed to address a broader range of aviation and emergency-response challenges over time.

Another firefighting technology firm, TracPlus Labs, has used geospatial analysis of 5.7 million water bodies to identify potential helicopter and scooper reload sites.