Unmanned Military Helicopter For Fighting Wildfires
- 10 years ago
Tests partnering a robotic K-Max helicopter with a drone to put out flames proved successful and may become a new weapon used to combat wildfires.
Every year wildfires cause incredible damage to forests and homes. Now there's a new weapon to help combat the flames.
An unmanned, robotic version of the K-MAX medium lift helicopter has been tested by Lockheed Martin for its potential use to put out fires.
The helicopter is produced by Kaman Aerospace Group, while it's autonomous system was developed by Lockheed Martin.
The K-Max can be flown with or without a pilot, which will allow it to fly around the clock while battling a wildfire.
The helicopter is partnered with an Indago quadrotor drone, which utilizes sensors to spot fires. Human operators control both the droneand when in autonomous mode, dispatch the copter.
During the test, the K-Max delivered 3,000 gallons of water and extinguished the contained test fire in an hour.
Each hour of flight costs $1,300 and its path can be pre-programmed.
Lockheed hopes this combination of drone and helicopter will help fight fires more efficiently, especially since humans no longer have to be put at risk.
It's possible the K-Max will be put into fire-fighting use by Summer 2015.
Every year wildfires cause incredible damage to forests and homes. Now there's a new weapon to help combat the flames.
An unmanned, robotic version of the K-MAX medium lift helicopter has been tested by Lockheed Martin for its potential use to put out fires.
The helicopter is produced by Kaman Aerospace Group, while it's autonomous system was developed by Lockheed Martin.
The K-Max can be flown with or without a pilot, which will allow it to fly around the clock while battling a wildfire.
The helicopter is partnered with an Indago quadrotor drone, which utilizes sensors to spot fires. Human operators control both the droneand when in autonomous mode, dispatch the copter.
During the test, the K-Max delivered 3,000 gallons of water and extinguished the contained test fire in an hour.
Each hour of flight costs $1,300 and its path can be pre-programmed.
Lockheed hopes this combination of drone and helicopter will help fight fires more efficiently, especially since humans no longer have to be put at risk.
It's possible the K-Max will be put into fire-fighting use by Summer 2015.