Sikorsky and Rain advance autonomous aerial wildland firefighting

Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, and Rain, a specialist in autonomous aerial wildfire containment technology, successfully demonstrated how an autonomous Black Hawk helicopter can be commanded to take off, identify the location and size of a small fire, and then accurately drop water to suppress the flames.

Performed on 29 October at the Sikorsky headquarters in the US state of Connecticut, the Rapid Wildfire Response Demonstration showed the effective fusion of Sikorsky’s MATRIX flight autonomy with Rain’s wildfire mission autonomy system to suppress a fire in its incipient stage.

Representatives from NASA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Los Angeles County Fire Department, Orange County Fire Authority, and the philanthropic and impact investment community witnessed the demonstration as part of a two-day wildlands firefighting meeting to discuss autonomy.

Maxwell Brodie, Rain CEO, commented: “Wildfires cost the US over US$390 billion annually, and multiple risk factors are set to grow up to 30% by 2030. We look forward to demonstrating to lawmakers how autonomous aircraft can stop fires from breaking out, or continue the fight into the night, and in turbulent and smoky conditions, where crewed aircraft wouldn’t venture.”

During the 30-minute flight demonstration, guests used a tablet to command the Black Hawk aircraft to take off, search and find the fire, then drop water from a Bambi Bucket slung 60ft beneath the aircraft. Each of three successive water drops extinguished a 12in-diameter propane-fueled fire ring emitting a 3–6in flame, demonstrating the precision of the Rain fire perception and targeting capability. The Rain system also rapidly adjusted the flight path to account for an 8–10kts crosswind during each water drop.

Sikorsky safety pilots in the Black Hawk cockpit monitored the flight controls but were hands-off until the aircraft landed.

Representatives attending the demonstration provided real-time input and observations to the Rain and Sikorsky teams. 

Sikorsky was recently awarded a contract for 35 Black Hawks for Greece.