Category: Fire Aircraft

Airborne firefighting vehicles

This in an unmanned aerial vehicle used by the fire service…



This in an unmanned aerial vehicle used by the fire service. It has four motorised propellers that keep the very light unit in flight. The ring around the edge is optional and helps avoid damage if it has a slight brush with a building. It can hover using GPS to correct it’s position and can be fitted with a range of different cameras.



The unit in flight. Being less than a metre across, it is visually and audibly unobtrusive in the sky and can difficult to spot. This demonstration model is operated by MRL Limited and is called the MRL Eye.

Some fire brigades use unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) or…



Some fire brigades use unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) or microdrones at major incidents. This is an example of a unmanned air vehicles (UAV) or microdrone. It has four rotors which run on electric motors. The battery lasts between 15 and 40 minutes depending on the wind, and only takes a few seconds to swap for a fresh one. When flying at 100 feet, the aircraft is silent and almost invisible.





The control desk for the UAV. A Laptop relays the picture to the controller. The radio control can also be seen on the table. It can be operated by one man when using special goggles that allow you to see what the camera is seeing, as well as where the UAV is. This low-cost alternative to a manned helicopter can allow firefighters an unparalleled overview of the fireground. The vehicles can be fitted with video, thermal or stills cameras. They are remote controlled and can automatically hover using an in-built GPS receiver.