A helicopter putting out a wildfire may not be news, but a robotic Black Hawk helicopter seeking out one and dropping water on it while the crew sits back and watches certainly is. That's what Sikorsky recently demonstrated to an audience of dignitaries.
Developing autonomous flight technologies is a major push in aerospace fields for a number of reasons, including cutting costs, avoiding putting human crews in danger, and freeing up pilots for more important duties. As part of this, Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky has been developing an avionics package that can turn the venerable Black Hawk helicopter into an autonomous platform.
The military applications of this are obvious. By making the Black Hawk autonomous, the US Army can send it on missions that would be too hazardous to risk a crew, it can handle routine reconnaissance and resupply missions, and ferry itself from place to place. However, there are other applications.
On October 29, 2024, at the company's Stratford, Connecticut headquarters demonstrated how an autonomous Black Hawk can be used to fight fires as part of Sikorsky's Rapid Wildfire Response Demonstration. For this, a standard Black Hawk was fitted with Sikorsky's MATRIX flight autonomy system and aerial firefighting company Rain’s wildfire mission autonomy and sensor system.
For the 30-minute demonstration, three simulated wildfires were set up, consisting of a 12-inch-diameter (30-cm) propane-fueled fire ring shooting out a 3-to-6-inch-tall (7.6-to-15-cm) flame. While dignitaries from NASA, FEMA, DARPA, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Orange County Fire Authority, and others watched, a tablet was used to command the Black Hawk, which autonomously took off, sought and found the fire, and doused it with water using a Bambi bucket slung 60 ft (18 m) beneath the helicopter.
In addition, the aircraft compensated for an 8-to-10-knot (9-to-11.5 mph, 15-to-18 km/h) crosswind. Meanwhile, the safety pilots aboard the Black Hawk sat and watched with hands off the controls.
The idea behind the exercise was to demonstrate the feasibility of forward deploying autonomous helicopters in remote areas along with fire detecting and locating sensor systems. This would not only allow for rapid responses to wildfires before they can turn into a major disaster, it also means that aircraft that would otherwise sit in storage can be kept in useful service year-round.
"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," said 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."
Source: Lockheed Martin