AutoFlight invents the “Canadair” drone to fight fires

Revolution in firefighting technology: the AutoFlight drones will make an exceptional contribution.

Here is a major advancement in the arsenal of solutions to fight fires: drones. While our minds were preoccupied with passenger transport, which takes a long time to develop to achieve flight certifications, here is AutoFlight, one of the sector’s leaders in eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles), presenting an unprecedented solution.

This is a prototype that is already fully operational: a remotely piloted drone capable of carrying 400 kg of payload, over a radius of 200 km at a speed of 200 km/h. The idea is to equip this drone with four “explosive” fire extinguishers, each weighing 100 kg, which AutoFlight will drop onto its target. In this case, the source of a fire.

The demonstration is astonishing: the eVTOL, properly “armed” before the mission — which saves valuable time — hovers above the target, then drops a fire extinguisher. It lands as close as possible to the flames before exploding and releasing water or fire-retardant products. The effectiveness is stunning.

The estimated area extinguished per flight is about 800 m². This is an invention that pays tribute to human intelligence.

In China, certification for this revolutionary new device is expected at the beginning of 2024.

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