Fighting Fires with UAVs

While the last post talked about the threat that UAVs potentially pose to helicopter pilots trying to put out fires, this post moves on to highlight the potential use of UAVs to combat fires rather than just getting in the way.

Lockheed Martin recently demonstrated the ability of their unmanned K-Max helicopter, in coordination with an Indago quadcopter, to successfully target and extinguish fires. The quadcopter can be used to identify hot spots within the fire for the K-Max to autonomously extinguish by collecting and dropping water.

[Source: Youtube – LockheedMartinVideos]

The benefits of using the unmanned system were highlighted by the Vice President of Aviation and Unmanned Systems at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Training business, Dan Spoor, when he commented that; “The unmanned K-MAX and Indago aircraft can work to fight fires day and night, in all weather, reaching dangerous areas without risking a life,”

As well…