A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

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Curt Epstein

Sikorsky has announced a partnership with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) to explore the potential of autonomous aerial firefighting. The five-year collaboration will focus on developing and integrating new technologies to enhance the safety and efficiency of the agency’s operations. According to Sikorsky, “autonomous-enabled” aircraft will reduce pilot workload, improve situational awareness, and give first responders the flexibility to perform complex missions in dangerous and deteriorating conditions, day or night.
In April, Sikorsky conducted exercises in southern California with an S-70 Firehawk equipped with the airframer’s Matrix autonomous operating system, demonstrating the potential of autonomy to help crewed and uncrewed firefighting helicopters find and suppress early-stage wildfires.
The company has had a long history with California’s firefighting agencies, which approached Sikorsky during the 1990s to develop a specialized fire attack helicopter, an effort that resulted in the development of the Firehawk. A derivative of Sikorsky’s Blackhawk, the S-70 is equipped with a 1,000-gallon water tank, retractable snorkel, twin turbine engine, and night vision capability.
Cal Fire operates a fleet of 16 Firehawks as its primary firefighting helicopter, including its two newest, which were delivered over the past few months.
"The development of autonomous wildfire suppression capabilities will be a game-changer in our efforts to protect communities from the growing threat of wildfires,” said Sikorsky v-p and general manager Rich Benton. “By leveraging cutting-edge technologies and enhancing the safety and efficacy of operations, this collaboration has the potential to revolutionize the way we respond to wildfires, protecting citizens for generations to come.”

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Sikorsky, Cal Fire To Explore Autonomous Firefighting

The five-year collaboration will focus on the S-70 Firehawk

Sikorsky and Cal Fire are partnering to explore autonomous aerial firefighting with rotorcraft.

Sikorsky, Cal Fire to Explore Autonomous Firefighting

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