Autonomous technology aids firefighters with critical paracargo drops despite smoky and cloudy Alaska skies
A shadow appeared in the smokey sky above a group of firefighters working on July 2, 2022 to protect a homestead from a wildfire burning in Interior Alaska.
“Come on robot, come on down,” yelled one of the firefighters on the ground. Many of these firefighters were smokejumpers who four days earlier had their own descent patterns under a parachute near the Chitanana Fire.
BLM Alaska Fire Service (BLM AFS) Smokejumper and Chief of the Alaska Smokejumper Base Bill Cramer radioed up to the airplane responsible for the first paracargo drop.
“It’s a little bit farther to the east than we’d like it, but we will see if it can rally,” said Cramer.
“Their flight patterns aren’t as predictable as ours are normally,” was the response over the radio while those on the ground continued to cheer for the “robot.”
Despite the unit just missing the drop zone, the cargo package was easily retrieved, giving the firefighters needed replenishment of food, fuel and critical supplies.
This “robot” is old military equipment about the size and shape of a Coleman’s camping stove called a Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS). Using an attached parachute, JPADS control unit guides cargo drops autonomously from a smokejumper plane when smoke obscures ground visibility required for normal paracargo deliveries.
BLM AFS smokejumpers use paracargo, or PC drops – bundles of supplies attached to parachutes – to efficiently deliver equipment and provisions to firefighters in the field, especially on remote fires.
However, when dense smoke or clouds obstructs visibility, conventional paracargo delivery becomes challenging, as seeing the ground is critical for drops.
Faced with thick smoke delaying critical resupply efforts in 2022, BLM AFS smokejumpers deployed JPADS units. In 2024, an upgraded JPADS-2K version proved invaluable when cloudy skies impeded normal paracargo navigation.
JPADS allow aircraft, such as the CASA 212 or DASH 8 used by Alaska smokejumpers, to conduct fully autonomous GPS-guided airdrops from higher elevations, bypassing visibility issues.
“It’s another tool,” said Alaska Smokejumper John Fremont.
In 2024, smokejumpers used the upgraded JPADS 2K to deliver paracargo to firefighters on the Gold King Creek Fire southwest of Fairbanks. U.S. Forest Service smokejumpers, who specialize in JPADS, assisted with its implementation, marking the first operational use of JPADS 2K outside U.S. military operations. BLM AFS owns five JPADS 2K units and one smaller JPADS, but usually has others on loan from the U.S. Forest Service during the Alaska fire season.
Taking GPS coordinates relayed from the field and forecasted weather, smokejumpers use computer software to calculate and program the units. When the JPADS paracargo load is “kicked” – smokejumper slang for push – out the airplane door, the parachute deploys and pulls out a pin on top of the JPADS, turning it on. Two pullies on the side of the system are connected to the ram-air parachute control lines, steering the paracargo load as it flies the pre-programmed route to the given coordinates. The steerable parachute gives the system directional control throughout the descent.
Because it takes more work to program the system and the amount allowable is less than a normal paracargo drop, the JPADS are only used when smoke or clouds prevent airplanes from flying low enough for normal PC drops.
This July, five JPADS 2K units delivered a total of 3,592 pounds of supplies through multiple drops to the Fickett and Gold King Fires Creek in Interior Alaska.
- Learn more about Alaska smokejumpers and how to become one: http://ow.ly/yXNS50LrrcH
- Find out what it takes to become an Alaska smokejumper and how to apply at https://ow.ly/UEu750TJaI5.
- Watch YouTube video at https://ow.ly/5uT950TJcAY
- YouTube video with audio descriptions at https://ow.ly/Okqv50TJcC3
For more information, contact BLM Alaska Fire Service Public Affairs Specialist Beth Ipsen at (907)356-5510 or eipsen@blm.gov.
-BLM-
Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service, P.O. Box 35005 1541 Gaffney Road, Fort Wainwright, AK 99703
Need public domain imagery to complement news coverage of the BLM Alaska Fire Service in Alaska? Visit our Flickr channel!
Learn more at www.blm.gov/AlaskaFireService, and on Facebook and Twitter.
The Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service (AFS) located at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, provides wildland fire suppression services for over 240 million acres of Department of the Interior and Native Corporation Lands in Alaska. In addition, AFS has other statewide responsibilities that include: interpretation of fire management policy; oversight of the BLM Alaska Aviation program; fuels management projects; and operating and maintaining advanced communication and computer systems such as the Alaska Lightning Detection System. AFS also maintains a National Incident Support Cache with a $23 million inventory. The Alaska Fire Service provides wildland fire suppression services for America’s “Last Frontier” on an interagency basis with the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Military in Alaska.
Categories: AK Fire Info, BLM Alaska Fire Service
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 