IDEX: Firefighting helos turn up the heat

A fire-fighting Black Hawk UH-60L of the UAE’s Joint Aviation Command sits metres away from a Russian Helicopters Ka-32A11M equipped with the SP-32 fire extinguishing system.

The danger of fires in skyscrapers in congested and complex cities, such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, has long been recognised as a major problem for fire brigades and emergency services and specially-equipped helicopters are seen as a major weapon in combating them.

The UAE military is testing and evaluating a Dart Aerospace SkyCannon system on the Black Hawk, made up of an 850-gallon water tank, supported by a 50-gallon foam one.

A JAC spokesman said: “We have been training on this system and evaluating it since 2022 to control high-altitude [high-rise] fires, initially to cool down the blaze before the fire fighters arrive. The cannon that fires the water is 7.6m long and can move 110 degrees to the right and 30 degrees down if required to be more accurate.”

The SkyCannon was designed to control and contain high-rise fires by allowing the helicopters to reach beyond ground-based firefighting efforts, with a directed low-pressure, high-volume water stream. The system works with Dart water tanks to pump water through an extended boom off the nose of the aircraft to precisely target the blaze.

Onboard the helicopter, foam is pumped into the water tanks and fired from the long cannon fitted to the side of the helicopter or alternatively from a drop system. A hover pump positioned on the right side of the helicopter is lowered into the water, which is then sucked up into the tank. Alternatively, it can be extracted from a fire truck.

To configure the UH-60Ls for aerial firefighting requires the external stores station be taken off, which is currently restricting the number of these helicopters available to just three or four.

With the UAE government making plans for using the UH-60Ls equipped with the Dart Aerospace system, right across the Emirates, and Abu Dhabi being the first stop, that number is likely to be increased.

Russian Helicopters believes the tried and trusted Ka-32 offers a solution to the UAE’s firefighting needs.

“The coaxial rotor system of the helicopter gives it great stability,” said Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec, Russia’s state export corporation. “It can successfully extinguish fires even in dense urban areas, between skyscrapers. At the same time, our equipment’s reliability is known throughout the world."

In addition to the Ka-32A11M variant on display at the marina, there is also the recently-developed SP-32 fire extinguishing system. This was type-certified after three months of testing in December 2021 to replace the US Simplex Model 328 system that was developed for the Ka-32 in 2013.

Victor Malikov, programme director of the aerial fire-fighting Ka-32, said that the SP-32 is unique in that it can operate in temperatures of down to -30 degrees C.

“The Simplex system could not operate in temperatures that low; the SP-32 is unique and was the biggest challenge during winter testing,” said Malikov. “We had to develop the flaps on the belly tank further after they froze during testing in St Petersburgh in late 2021.” 

The Russian SP-32 system can also carry more water, 4,200 litres, that can be filled in two and a half minutes by sucking up water through the hose that is dropped into the sea water.

There are two options to extinguishing blazes, either through the water cannon firing directly into the building or from the belly tank, that drops directly onto the fire.

“It can fire from a distance of 40 metres, but we are developing a new system – replacing pump and cannon – that extends the range to 80 metres from the fire,” said Malikov.

“In the conditions of high-rise buildings there are a lot of vortices, which are dangerous for helicopters equipped with the tail rotor,” he explained. “The pilot sitting on the left controls the fire-fighting system. The cockpit has been adapted with night vision goggles, but they are not used for firefighting, that would be difficult due to the brightness of the fire,” he said.

More than 140 Ka-32s are flying in around 20 countries, but are not all unique to aerial firefighting. Russia and South Korea are the biggest operators of fire-fighting Ka-32s.