Airbus Tests AI-Linked Wildfire Network for Precision Water Drops

Overview

• Airbus detailed a successful trial at the Aerial Firefighting Conference in Rome, held March 24–26, 2026, showing near real-time guidance for water drops.
• The exercise ran at the Garrigues military camp near Nîmes with the Gard fire service (SDIS 30) and Entente Valabre, which evaluates firefighting gear and trains crews.
• The team linked an H130 FlightLab helicopter, an ATR 72 testbed, a Cirrus SR20, and four drones over a private mobile network tied to Agnet, Airbus’s secure push-to-talk and data system.
• Drones and a light aircraft sent visible and infrared video to a command post, where AI fused it with satellite images, terrain, wind readings, and crew locations to generate geolocated flight paths and exact drop points for the aircraft.
• Airbus framed the trial as a step toward a wider wildfire-response ecosystem, and the ATR 72’s role echoes reported ATR 72 conversion work by Kepplair Evolution that could pair with such coordination in the future, though no operational rollout was announced.