Heavy duty water bombing drones able to lift 400 kilos are being tested in Canadian forest fire conditions
Thank you for choosing Automatic Translation. Currently we are offering translations from English into French and German, with more translation languages to be added in the near future. Please be aware that these translations are generated by a third party AI software service. While we have found that the translations are mostly correct, they may not be perfect in every case. To ensure the information you read is correct, please refer to the original article in English. If you find an error in a translation which you would like to bring to our attention, it would help us greatly if you let us know. We can correct any text or section, once we are aware of it. Please do not hesitate to contact our webmaster to let us know of any translation errors.
Heavy-duty drones, known as Thunder Wasp drones, are being tested in British Columbia to aid wildfire firefighting efforts.
Fireswarm Solutions and the Strategic Natural Resource Group aim to make these drones "fire-ready" with AI swarm algorithms and heavy-lift capabilities, enabling them to carry up to 400 kilograms each and fly for two hours.
Unlike helicopters, these drones can operate at night when fires intensify and traditional aircraft cannot fly, the CBC reports.
The lifting capacity is 400 kilograms, and the drones can fly for two hours. Three Thunder Wasp drones combined can together lift 1,200 kilograms. According to the B.C. Wildfire Service, a medium-sized helicopter can lift 1,100 – 1,600 kilograms.
Hoping to be operational in 2026
The testing in Squamish Valley is supported by the B.C. Wildfire Service, which is observing the drones' performance as they autonomously bucket and drop water on targeted areas. The collaboration hopes to have these drones approved and operational by the 2026 wildfire season, addressing an unmet need in wildfire response technology.
The Strategic Natural Resource Group, an emergency response management firm, has been instrumental in this effort, leveraging its long-standing relationship with the B.C. Wildfire Service to innovate emergency response methods.
The B.C. Wildfire Service said these specific Thunder Wasp drones are not being used for wildfire response anywhere else in the world.