Indago Aids Firefighting Operations In Australia
The Indago quadrotor has bright LEDs that allow the pilot and observers to operate the vehicle by sight at night. Photo: Lockheed Martin.
To assist with efforts to contain and extinguish a dangerous fire with the potential to threaten lives and property, Western Australia’s Emergency Services Commissioner called on Lockheed Martin’s Indago quadrotor unmanned aircraft system for its first real-world firefighting mission.
The Indago provided situational awareness to firefighting teams through ground control stations and laptops, including pinpointing the fire’s edge, identifying the location and intensity of hotspots, and finding people and property at risk through smoke. The UAS also assessed damage and transmitted real-time images of firefighting operations.
“After Indago’s insertion into our firefighting operations, an estimated 100 homes were saved,” says Wayne Greyson, Fire and Emergency Services commissioner. “The Indigo provided a critical capability while the manned aircraft were grounded at nightfall and increased our ground operators’ situational awareness.”
Manned aircraft have aided ground firefighters in Australia for 80 years, logging 12 to 14 hours a day during daylight.
“The Indago can work to fight fires and provide information to operations day and night without risking a life,” says Dan Spoor, vice president of Aviation and Unmanned Systems at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Training business. “This real-world application signifies the potential for using unmanned systems to augment manned firefighting operations, doubling the amount of time for fire suppression.”
Tim Hand, chief UAV controller at Heliwest, the commercial aviation company that operated the aircraft, says his team extensively researched systems to buy and settled on the Indago because of its reliable 45-minute flight endurance, large and flexible payload, backpack portability, LED running lights for nighttime visibility, and ruggedness.
“The Indago has shown its ability to operate in all weather and visibility conditions,” says Hand. “Since we began using it in November 2014, it has performed well in temperatures ranging from -12 degrees to 112 degrees, rain to snow, and smoke or dust.”
During a media call, Hand says every day his crew takes the system out, dusts it off and it flies with the same reliability as the day he received it. The reliability and level of safety provided by the Indago enabled Heliwest to obtain authorization from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to fly the aircraft commercially.
“Word had spread through the organization that Heliwest possessed a night-capable UAS, with approvals and crew to meet our operational needs,” says Assistant Commissioner Hazard and Response for the Department of Fire and Emergency Services in Western Australia Chris Arnol. “Faced with a level-three incident, that has the potential to threaten lives and property, covering 4,100 ha and a situation where no manned assets could assist, the Incident Management Team requested the tasking.”
Arnol says that the system is currently working on a call when needed basis, but “plans are being made for a more permanent contract.”
