Unmanned Team of K-Max® Helicopter and Indago Quadrotor Demonstrate Firefighting Capability

OWEGO, N.Y., Nov. 18, 2014 – A team of Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] and Kaman [NYSE: KAMN] unmanned aircraft successfully demonstrated its ability to aid in firefighting operations. During the demonstration, the Indago quad rotor effectively identified hot spots, and provided data to an operator who directed the unmanned K-MAX helicopter to autonomously extinguish the flames. In one hour, the unmanned K-MAX helicopter lifted and dropped more than 24,000 pounds of water onto the fire.
“The unmanned K-MAX and Indago aircraft can work to fight fires day and night, in all weather, reaching dangerous areas without risking a life,” said Dan Spoor, vice president of Aviation and Unmanned Systems at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Training business.
“This demonstration signifies the potential for adapting proven unmanned systems and their advanced sensors and mission suites to augment manned firefighting operations, more than doubling the amount of time on station,” said Kaman Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Neal Keating.
The Indago’s industry-leading flight time and EO/IR gimbaled imager provides high quality data and enhanced situational awareness for operators to make real-time decisions. Indago is capable of providing tactical situational awareness and geo-location to aid in a variety of missions, from firefighting to precision agriculture to search and rescue.
From the depths of the ocean to the rarified air of the stratosphere, Lockheed Martin’s unmanned systems help our military, civil and commercial customers accomplish their most difficult challenges.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 113,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s net sales for 2013 were $45.4 billion.
Kaman Corporation, founded in 1945 by aviation pioneer Charles H. Kaman, and headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut conducts business in the aerospace and industrial distribution markets. In addition to supporting its SH-2G Super Seasprite maritime helicopters and K-MAX medium-to-heavy lift helicopters; the Company produces a number of aerospace products including widely used proprietary aircraft bearings.
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