This article is published in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report part of Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN), and is complimentary through May 29, 2025. For information on becoming an AWIN Member to access more content like this, click here.
Sikorsky’s optionally piloted Black Hawk flew under the command of Rain’s autonomous firefighting system.
Sikorsky and firefighting technology startup Rain have demonstrated autonomous wildfire suppression using a UH-60 Black Hawk equipped with the helicopter manufacturer’s Matrix flight autonomy system.
The tests took place in late April in Southern California over wildfire-prone terrain at 3,300 ft. altitude and in gusts up to 30 kt. (34.5 mph), Sikorsky says. Firefighters from the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District built and set fire to multiple brush piles for the aircraft to find and suppress with water.
Rain’s wildfire suppression planning software is layered on top of the Matrix autonomy system installed in Sikorsky’s optionally piloted testbed. Rain’s system detected and tracked the fire, developed a suppression plan and sent navigation commands to the aircraft to drop water onto the target. The goal is to enable fast, effective initial attacks on early stage fires to prevent major wildfires from developing.
The California Assembly is debating legislation to establish a pilot program to equip a firefighting helicopter with autonomous aerial suppression technology and transition the aircraft into operational use. Cal Fire and local fire departments across California operate 24 Sikorsky S-70 Firehawk helicopters equipped with 1,000-gal. belly tanks. Three more are to be delivered to Cal Fire this year.
In addition to the Matrix autonomy system, the optionally piloted Black Hawk is retrofitted with fly-by-wire flight controls, satellite datalink and onboard thermal and visual cameras. Sikorsky safety pilots were hands off the controls as the aircraft flew with a 324-gal. Bambi Bucket attached to a 40-ft. line.
Rain’s mission autonomy enabled a ground operator to command the Black Hawk using a tablet to assign tasks, guiding the aircraft to the water source, filling the bucket in a hover, searching and finding the fire with the aircraft’s thermal sensor and determining the fire size. The system calculated the flightpath, speed and altitude to the fire, accounting for wind speed and direction during suppression, and determined the precise moment to release water to achieve the desired coverage.
The aircraft flew a total of 24 hr. over two weeks of tests witnessed by representatives from Cal Fire, the San Bernardino County Fire District, the Orange County Fire Authority (OFCA) and the U.S. Forest Service. During one series of water drops, a crewed OCFA Sikorsky S-76 airborne command helicopter operated alongside the autonomous Black Hawk, Sikorsky says, demonstrating communication interoperability between autonomous and piloted helicopters in the same fire traffic area.
“Of all the tools we have to keep wildfires small, none are more effective than rapid suppression on initial attack of a wildfire,” San Bernardino County Fire District Chief Dan Munsey said. “Autonomous aircraft—both crewed and uncrewed—can increase flexibility and capacity for on-the-ground incident commanders, ultimately saving lives and property for the communities we serve.”
Matrix is designed to be an open system that can work with mission-specific autonomy software such as Rain’s wildfire suppression system, says Igor Cherepinsky, director of Sikorsky Innovations. Matrix provides the high-assurance core that protects the aircraft and ensures the autonomous behavior is always safe. “Then we can work with others to add capabilities,” he says.
“Rain has developed algorithms for how to put out a fire. We don’t do that. We integrate their sensing and planning on top on Matrix,” he says. Matrix can then act as a fully autonomous flight system or an “intelligent co-pilot” to assist the crew with the mission.
To enable the installation of Matrix, Sikorsky has developed a kit to convert the UH-60/S-70 to full fly-by-wire flight control. “We remove the mechanical flight controls and install the sensing, computing and actuation,” Cherepinsky says. “It’s true fly-by-wire. Even if you fly stick-and-throttle, it provides envelope protection. It’s part of our continuing mission to enhance safety.”
While Sikorsky’s system is more expensive than some fly-by-wire conversions intended to convert older Black Hawks to uncrewed logistics platforms, Cherepinsky says it is aimed at helicopters that are used on missions such as fire-suppression flights over populated areas, where safety is critical.
Related Content
