Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky and Rain, a leader in autonomous aerial wildfire containment technology, have 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 it, Lockheed Martin announced in a press release on 11 November 2024.
A ’Rapid Wildfire Response Demonstration’, performed on 29 October 2024 out of Sikorsky’s headquarters in Stratford, Connecticut, showed the effective fusion of Sikorsky’s Matrix aircraft autonomy with Rain’s wildfire mission autonomy system to suppress a fire in its incipient stage.
The demonstration was witnessed by representatives from NASA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Los Angeles County Fire Department, Orange County Fire Authority, and the philanthropic and impact investment community as part of a two-day wildlands firefighting meeting to discuss autonomy.
During the 30-minute flight demonstration, guests used a tablet to command the Black Hawk helicopter to take off, search and find the fire, then drop water from a Bambi Bucket slung 60 ft (18 m) beneath the aircraft. Each of three successive water drops extinguished a 12-inch (30 cm) diameter propane-fuelled fire ring emitting a 8 to 15 cm-tall flame, demonstrating the precision of the Rain fire perception and targeting capability. The Rain system also rapidly adjusted the flight path to account for a 15-19 km/h 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.
“Government agencies, aerial firefighting operators, and investors are coming together to learn and see how both flight and mission autonomy can help prevent high-intensity, million-acre wildfires,” Maxwell Brodie, Rain CEO, was quoted as saying in a Lockheed Martin press release. “Wildfires cost the United States over USD 390 billion [EUR 367 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.”
“With Rain’s wildfire mission software loaded onto the aircraft and a tablet, wildland firefighters in the field could deploy autonomous Black Hawk or Firehawk helicopters to search and attack wildfires before they spread out of control,” added Igor Cherepinsky, director of Sikorsky Innovations’ rapid development/prototyping group. “Having worked closely together for over a year, our two companies are ready to demonstrate the joint capability in more dynamic conditions chosen by firefighters.”
