Rain and Sikorsky to collaborate for aerial wildland firefighting efforts

Rain, a US company offering aerial wildfire containment technology, and aircraft manufacturer Sikorsky have announced a collaboration.

Together, they will explore how Sikorsky’s MATRIX autonomy suite operating with Rain’s Wildfire Mission Autonomy System can launch uncrewed helicopters to drop water on wildfires within minutes of detection.

The system identifies and locates wildfire, develops a suppression strategy, and plans flight path and drop timing to enable on-target delivery of suppressant. Throughout operations, it shares intelligence and plans, providing firefighters with situational awareness and oversight of the mission to ensure safety and coordination.

Rain and Sikorsky’s collaboration will demonstrate autonomous capabilities to enable firefighting helicopters to be pre-positioned in remote locations according to wildfire risk. Operating uncrewed, and deployable 24/7, the integrated offering would provide fire agencies with the ability to rapidly respond to ignitions in hard-to-access regions in varied terrain, supporting fire agencies with new tools in their mission to prevent catastrophic wildfires in the areas they serve.

“Combining Sikorsky’s demonstrated mature vehicle autonomy system with Rain’s early response capability will show how an uncrewed Black Hawk or Firehawk helicopter can quickly take off, fly to a suspected ignition, and drop water to suppress a wildfire in its incipient stage with no human onboard,” said Rain CEO Maxwell Brodie. “Ultimately, Rain envisions equipping fire agencies with the capability to strategically position a future fleet of firefighting aircraft capable of receiving and carrying out mission commands.”