UAV Faradair announces firefighting UAV

Faradair revealed its drone BEHA M1 during the Farnborough Air Show 2018. The UAV, which is primarily designed for military use, should be able to be used for firefighting missions.

The ability to fly a fleet of autonomous drone BEHA M1-AT’s to a fire location, providing continuous low level delivery with greater payload capability than helicopters for less operational cost and zero pilot risk, is an attractive alternative for firefighting organizations.

According to Faradair’s website, BEHA M1-AT has a wingspan of 11 meters and a maximum payload of 10 tons. The company recommends to acquire a small fleet of drones, which offers lower operational costs compared to helicopters, and to let them fly in rotation to combat smaller fires and to prevent them becoming larger fires.

“We have always said that our new BEHA aircraft platform is focused more on multi-role functionality than specific focus in one class of flight (Urban Air Mobility) and this firefighting drone configuration really highlights that capability. Obviously the ability to carry retardant also opens the opportunity for refuelling in the military environment, possibly negating the need for resupply fuel tracks or even low cost air to air refuelling option for the F35B from carriers without ‘cats n traps’”, Managing Director of Faradair Neil Cloughley said.

The BEHA is currently undergoing design optimisation at Swansea University and scale model flights have been conducted from a satellite office in Sweden. Talks are ongoing with UK Government investment groups and new partners to ensure this exciting UK aerospace start-up continues to grow.

Faradair is a UK company founded in 2014. The company is working together with partners and aims at delivering innovative prototype aircraft.

More and more UAV manufacturer are focusing on the firefighting market. Shortly, the wholly-owned Boeing subsidiary Insitu announced to help firefighters on wildfires in Oregon, providing information for fire suppression activities via its data collection.