Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has entered a new area of endeavor by presenting a firefighting technology solution for fighting wildfires in the XPRIZE Wildfire Competition in the US, a source close to the matter has told "Globes."
IAI is offering a product that includes operating two autonomous drones, synchronized with each other. The first unmanned aerial vehicle serves as a detection aircraft and is equipped with a dedicated electro-optic payload that scans the environment and locates fires from great distance. The dedicated payload facilitates the ability to see through the smoke and accurately identify the source of the fire, when it is still in its early stages. The data gathered is automatically processed through to the second aircraft and transmitted as a flight path, through which the second aircraft can spread a flame retardant on the fire, without human intervention.
Over the last decade, forest wildfires have caused enormous damage worldwide, resulting in loss of income from tourism and damage to agriculture estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars. In the fires that occurred in Australia in 2020, for example, nearly 12 million acres were destroyed, causing economic damage estimated at US $100 billion. In wildfires in Greece in 2021, crops were destroyed over an area of about 250,000 acres.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 7, 2024.
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