| PCADS Airdrop in Yuma simply "Awesome" |
| Monday, 09 November 2009 09:39 |
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All for PCADS units deployed 100 percent. "We demonstrated excellent accuracy hitting within 20 feet of the target marker," said William Cleary, PCADS program manager, "The coverage level was also excellent." The audience included representatives of the U.S. and 24 international military forces. U.S. Army PATCAD program director Richard Benney, simply called the PCADS airdrop, "Awesome."
 Each of the four PCADS containers in the demonstration carried 2,000 lbs. of water . In an operational system, a C-130 could carry 16 PCADS units. PCADS consists of heavy-duty cardboard containers with 250 gallon bladders holding water or retardant. The system can be used with any cargo plane with a rear cargo ramp, and allows for GPS-guided, round-the-clock aerial firefighting with precise delivery of firefighting liquid on the fire. "Major wildfires are not fought at night," said Cleary. "PCADS could change all that. Deploying a fleet of aircraft with PCADS at night would change the atmosphere of the fire at day break." PCADS’ test program continues with a dynamic test (to demonstrate forces the system can withstand while in the cargo holds of aircraft), aircraft integration tests and a U.S. Forest Service aerial firefighting grid test. All are required ahead of certification of the system.
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Flexible Alternatives and Boeing Phantom Works Precision Container Aerial Delivery System was successfully demonstrated last month in the Arizona desert. Four PCADS containers were dropped Oct. 21, from a U.S. government C-130 test aircraft flying 500 feet above the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground at the Precision Airdrop Technology Conference and Demonstration (PATCAD) 2009.