Autonomous Black Hawk helicopters can put out fires, tests take place

• Rain and Sikorsky test advanced aerial firefighting technologies using autonomous Black Hawk helicopter.
• Firefighters witnessed water being dropped from an autonomous Black Hawk helicopter guided by Rain’s firefighting mission autonomy technology.
• The helicopter completed a total of 24 hours of flights over two weeks of testing.

Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, and Rain, a leader in the emerging industry of firefighting technologies, demonstrated and tested autonomous fire suppression techniques on propane piles and brush fires using Sikorsky’s Matrix helicopter flight autonomy system and Rain’s fire mission planning software.

The tests, conducted in late April in Southern California, were designed to familiarize firefighters with the potential of autonomy to help both manned and unmanned helicopters locate and suppress early-stage fires.

“Sikorsky and Rain have combined two autonomy systems: our Matrix technology, which controls the flight of each helicopter, both manned and unmanned, and Rain’s firefighting mission autonomy system, which detects and tracks the fire, develops a suppression plan and guides the helicopter to drop water on the target,” said Rich Benton, Sikorsky vice president and general manager.

Pilots can tailor the level of autonomy to mission characteristics, adding new features as experience improves flight safety and increases fire suppression capabilities.

The autonomous fire suppression tests conducted in late April were the first that Rain and Sikorsky have performed in California on a real fire in a fire-prone area.

The tests took place at an altitude of approximately 3,300 feet, with wind gusts of up to 34 mph at times, and were conducted in close cooperation with firefighters from the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District, who prepared and set fire to several brush piles to allow the helicopter to locate and extinguish the fire with water.

Sensors locate the fire and send video images to the ground operator's tablet

Sikorsky’s autonomous Black Hawk helicopter features fly-by-wire flight controls, Matrix autonomy, satellite communications, and thermal and visual cameras. Matrix allows operators to choose autonomous or manned modes.

During testing, Rain integrated its Mission Autonomy System with Matrix technology, enabling a ground operator to issue commands to a Black Hawk helicopter using a Rain tablet.

Tasks included: guiding the helicopter to a water source, filling the tank in a hover, detecting the fire using thermal sensors, determining the size of the fire, calculating the flight trajectory, speed and height to the fire, taking into account wind speed and direction when suppressing the flames, and precisely determining the moment of release to achieve the desired level of water coverage.

During the flight, helicopter-mounted sensors geolocated the fire and transmitted video to the ground operator’s tablet, providing situational awareness and enabling mission planning decisions.

Sikorsky safety pilots had no physical contact with air traffic control while the Black Hawk helicopter was flying with a 1,220-liter Bambi Bucket tank attached to a 12-meter (39-foot) tether.

With the flexibility of Sikorsky’s optionally manned Matrix system, the team also demonstrated the ability to transition from autonomous control to a manned mode that can be selected based on operational and environmental conditions.

The most effective way to extinguish a fire is to quickly douse it in its early stages.

The helicopter completed a total of 24 hours of flight time in California over two weeks of testing. During one series of water drops, a manned Sikorsky S-76 OCFA command helicopter operated alongside an autonomous Black Hawk helicopter. The joint flights demonstrated communications interoperability between the autonomous helicopter and the manned helicopter in the same firefighting flight area.

“The technology that Rain and Sikorsky are demonstrating is a powerful part of an evolving firefighting technology ecosystem that addresses the year-round fire seasons we face in California,” said San Bernardino County Fire District Chief Dan Munsey.

He added that of all the tools at their disposal to stop wildfires in their tracks, none is more effective than rapid suppression of the incipient fire. Autonomous aircraft —both manned and unmanned— can increase the flexibility and capability of emergency response commanders , ultimately saving lives and property in our communities.

Sikorsky helicopters are manufactured in Poland at the PZL Mielec plant.

“The early stage fire flight tests were extremely important to Rain and Sikorsky as we refine our joint autonomous solution. This is an excellent first step for aviation firefighters to learn how autonomous systems can assist the pilot in suppressing a fire, allowing for greater safety and precision,” said Maxwell Brodie, CEO of Rain,

Sikorsky helicopters are manufactured in Poland at PZL Mielec , a Lockheed Martin subsidiary. The Mielec plant, originally a WSK plant that produced LIM jet fighters in the 1950s and 1960s, is now one of Lockheed Martin's largest manufacturing facilities outside the United States.

The main product is the S-70i Black Hawk helicopter . The plant produces fuselages, tail booms and suspensions, and carries out final assembly. 650 S-70 Black Hawk helicopter cabins have already been produced in Mielec.