Rain and Sikorsky Demonstrate Autonomy to Rapidly Find and Suppress Test Fires

Government, firefighting agencies, and investment representatives convened with Rain and Sikorsky to observe autonomous aerial water drops. 

Rain, a leader in autonomous aerial wildfire containment technology, and Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, successfully demonstrated to government, firefighting, investment and philanthropy leaders 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. 

Sikorsky’s Black Hawk® helicopter with optionally piloted functionality flown by the Sikorsky MATRIX™ aircraft autonomy system and Rain wildfire mission autonomy system demonstrated an aerial water drop Oct. 29 at Sikorsky HQ in Stratford, Connecticut. 

Performed Oct. 29 at Sikorsky headquarters in Stratford, 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, 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 meeting to discuss deploying autonomy for aerial firefighting. 

Representatives from NASA, 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 meeting to discuss deploying autonomy for aerial firefighting. 

US Fire Administrator Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell commands a water drop using a Rain tablet as part of the demonstration of autonomous rapid wildfire suppression at Sikorsky headquarters. Representatives attending the demonstration provided real-time input and observations to the Rain and Sikorsky teams.

Rain CTO, Bryan Hatton, holds a Rain tablet during a demonstration of autonomous rapid wildfire response on the Sikorsky flight field.

Deputy Chief Tim Perkins of the Orange County Fire Department commands a water drop using a Rain tablet as part of the demonstration of autonomous rapid wildfire suppression at Sikorsky headquarters. Representatives attending the demonstration provided real-time input and observations to the Rain and Sikorsky teams.

“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,” said Maxwell Brodie, Rain CEO. “Wildfires cost the United States over $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 Rain tablet to command the Black Hawk aircraft to take off, search and find the fire, then drop water from a Bambi Bucket slung 60 feet beneath the aircraft. Each of three successive water drops extinguished a 12-inch diameter propane-fueled fire ring emitting a 3-to-6-inch-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 an 8-to-10-knot crosswind during each water drop. 

As part of the demonstration of autonomous rapid wildfire suppression, Chief Mike Deacon—an Air Tactical Group Supervisor and Helicopter Coordinator—launched a Black Hawk helicopter for a fire localization mission using a Rain tablet from a conference room at Sikorsky headquarters in Stratford, Connecticut.

Kate Dargan Marquis, a senior wildfire strategist for the Gordon and Betty Moore Wildfire Resilience Initiative, discusses fire intensity management with fellow attendees of the autonomous wildfire response demonstration. Representatives attending the demonstration provided real-time input and observations to the Rain and Sikorsky teams.

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

“With Rain’s wildfire mission software loaded onto the aircraft and a tablet, wildland firefighters in the field could one day 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.” 

“This technology that we used to think of as being on the horizon is here, no longer a figment of our imagination,” said Genevieve Biggs, director of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s Wildfire Resilience Initiative and Special Projects program. “It’s humbling to see this giant machine and to think about the huge improvement in safety that becomes possible when you're layering into wildland firefighting an autonomous operation as Rain and Sikorsky have been able to do together.”

Read Lockheed Martin’s announcement of the demonstration.  

About Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin is a global defense technology company driving innovation and advancing scientific discovery. Our all-domain mission solutions and 21st Century Security vision accelerate the delivery of transformative technologies to ensure those we serve always stay ahead of ready. More information at Lockheedmartin.com. 

About Rain 

Rain, a leader in autonomous aerial wildfire containment technology, is helping fire agencies more rapidly suppress wildfires during the earliest stages of ignition. Rain software adapts existing military and civil autonomous aircraft with the intelligence to perceive, understand, and suppress wildfires, which enables numerous aircraft to be prepositioned in remote locations resulting in accelerated response time. Developed in tandem with fire professionals, Rain is a privately held company headquartered in Alameda, California.