Press Kit
About Rain
Rain, a leader in aerial wildfire containment technology, is helping fire agencies more rapidly suppress wildfires during the earliest stages of ignition, before they grow out of control. Rain adapts autonomous aircraft with wildfire intelligence to rapidly perceive, understand, and suppress wildfires, which enables numerous aircraft to be prepositioned in remote locations resulting in accelerated response time. Developed in tandem with fire professionals, Rain is a privately held company headquartered in Alameda, California.
Background on Rain here.
Wildfire in the Decades Ahead
Extreme wildfires have more than doubled in both frequency and magnitude over the past two decades, and are expected to increase by up to 30 percent by 2050—and 50 percent by 2100. Wildfires already have a substantial human impact, cause incredible environmental damage, and cost communities immeasurable harm. As wildfire risk continues to grow, fire agencies everywhere will have to significantly expand and scale wildfire response capacity. Future firefighting capabilities—and innovative fire intensity management tools—are ready to come online.
Recent Press Releases
Press Images and Captions
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Rain, a leader in the emerging firetech industry, and Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, demonstrated and tested autonomous wildfire suppression techniques using Sikorsky’s optionally piloted MATRIX flight autonomy system layered with Rain’s wildfire suppression planning software.
The tests were performed in close collaboration with firefighters from the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District, who built and set fire to multiple brush piles for the aircraft to find and suppress with water.
Air to air photo by Ted Carlson.
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Rain, a leader in the emerging firetech industry, and Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, demonstrated and tested autonomous wildfire suppression techniques using Sikorsky’s optionally piloted MATRIX flight autonomy system layered with Rain’s wildfire suppression planning software.
During California demonstrations, a Rain tablet remotely commanded water drops by Sikorsky’s optionally piloted Black Hawk helicopter. The exercise was conducted during extreme weather conditions—a suppression drop in 20 knots of wind and an autonomous bucket fill in 30 knot winds.
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Rain, a leader in the emerging firetech industry, and Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, demonstrated and tested autonomous wildfire suppression techniques using Sikorsky’s optionally piloted MATRIX flight autonomy system layered with Rain’s wildfire mission autonomy technology.
The demonstration was supported in part through Pacific Gas and Electric Company's research and development efforts. Administered through PG&E's Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) program, the project explores how drone-enabled and autonomous wildfire suppression technologies can reduce response times, reduce risk of ignitions becoming catastrophic wildfires, and reduce operating costs for field crews.
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Over the course of 24 hours of flight time, Rain and Sikorsky showed end to end autonomous rapid initial attack in a real-world fire environment with real-time flight path adjustments to deliver water on live fire.
The tests were performed in close collaboration with firefighters from the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District, who built and set fire to multiple brush piles for the aircraft to find and suppress with water.
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Rain, a leader in the emerging firetech industry, and Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, demonstrated and tested autonomous wildfire suppression techniques using Sikorsky’s optional piloted MATRIX™ flight autonomy system layered with Rain’s wildfire mission autonomy system.
The tests were performed in close collaboration with firefighters from the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District, who built and set fire to multiple brush piles for the aircraft to find and suppress with water.
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A Black Hawk® helicopter equipped with Sikorsky MATRIX™ and Rain autonomy dropped water onto a staged burn in California, April 24.
Rain, a leader in the emerging firetech industry, and Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, demonstrated and tested autonomous wildfire suppression techniques using Sikorsky’s optionally piloted MATRIX flight autonomy system layered with Rain’s wildfire suppression planning software.
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A Black Hawk® helicopter equipped with Sikorsky MATRIX™ and Rain autonomy dropped water onto a staged burn in California, April 24. A tablet shows an active suppression task with the fire location and suppression plan visible.
The autonomous wildfire suppression tests in late April were the first performed by Rain and Sikorsky in California over live fires in wildfire-prone terrain; at 3,300-ft altitude; sometimes in wind gusts up to 30 knots (35 mph).
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Representatives from NASA, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Los Angeles County Fire Department, Orange County Fire Authority, and the philanthropic and impact investment community witnessed a demonstration of Rain and Sikorsky’s integrated technology as part of a two-day meeting to discuss deploying autonomy for aerial firefighting at Sikorsky’s headquarters on October 29th, 2024.
