Australia’s National Aerial Fire-fighting Centre (NAFC) is examining the potential of UAS in supporting fire operations. “UAS technology has advanced significantly in recent years and we are keen to closely evaluate the potential application of UAS in fire support,” says the NAFC.
This project has included desktop studies and a demonstration involving Insitu Pacific’s ScanEagle UAS, conducted in 2009 at Kilcoy airfield in Queensland. Airspace issues are being worked through with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to allow progress to the next stage: namely, an operational trial under real conditions.
“The work we’ve done so far has seen the concept validated, but we now need to test it operationally,” says Richard Alder, general manager of the NAFC. “The general feeling is there’s potential [in UAS technology]. It’s not going to be a revolution. We are aware of its limitations, but it also provides real advantages, particularly in obtaining intelligence, for example at night.” Australia could see UAS operating in an intelligence-gathering role in aerial fire-fighting in five to 10 years, predicts Alder.
Australia’s 2010-11 bushfire season, which drew to a close in April, was a fairly quiet one for much of the country, with the exception of Western Australia, where a record hot summer kept the aerial firefighting fleet busy.
Nevertheless, a 52-strong national fleet of aircraft and helicopters contracted by the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) was on standby throughout the season in the country’s hotspots, along with the aerial firefighting fleets of individual states and territories. The 2010-11 fleet was the largest ever contracted by the NAFC.
Despite the quiet season, for the NAFC and individual states there is an ongoing process of evaluating platforms, new technology and approaches to manage the ever-present danger of fire in the summer. In addition to looking at platforms, the NAFC is also evaluating new surveillance and sensor technology, communications systems and unmanned aerial systems, which could all play a useful role in battling and managing bushfires. The NAFC’s 2008 Future Aerial Fire Management Capability request for proposals opened the lines of communications with suppliers of large tankers and UAS and other systems, and evaluations have continued since then.
Source: Flight Global