22 January 2020: Elbit Systems has successfully demonstrated its patented Hydrop system, an innovative solution enabling high-altitude high-precision aerial firefighting.
The field demonstration had taken place as part of an exercise led by the Israel Fire and Rescue Authority. At the time of the exercise two Air Tractor aircraft from the Israeli Fire Fighting Squadron were told to extinguish a burning field, from as high as 500 ft., more than four times higher than the average altitude of a standard aerial firefighting sortie. By making the use of the HyDrop system each aircraft launched 1.6-tons of 140-gram liquid pellets in a computed ballistic trajectory, attaining a precise hit with saturation of 1-2 liter per 1 square meter.
Aerial firefighting has been performed by using liquid cascade drop methods since 1953 that need sorties to be conducted at an altitude of a 100-120 ft. in order to reduce liquid loss caused by the aerosol effect. Such low-altitude flights can only be done at the daytime due to safety concerns and Civil Aviation regulations. The experience from around the world clearly shows that restricting aerial firefighting to daytime severely degrades its operational contribution. Addressing this needs gap, Elbit Systems developed the Hydrop system that allows a high-precision computed launch of bio-degradable liquid pellets from 500-2,000 ft., altitudes that are safe and certified for night-flight by Civil Aviation.
The Hydrop system consists of a pellets manufacturing machine (static or mobile). It is kept in a standard 20'-container, the manufacturing machine can make up to 10 tons of pellets per hour. The biodegradable pellets can be filled with either water, foam or fire retardant, have been proved to have no harmful residues and their dropping has also been tested and found to be safe to crews on the ground.