Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission: Aerial equipment strategy report
This report outlines recommendations for the Commission’s intent to chart a course forward for an aerial asset equipment strategy that supports the resources and interagency coordination needed to match the evolving scale and needs of wildland fire mitigation and management. Many of the recommendations intend to address issues likely to be important well beyond the next decade. The Commission also acknowledges the extensive effort that has already been invested in evaluating and informing strategic use of aviation resources.
The recommendations and findings address the need for the development of new or updated aviation resource benchmarks and national procurement models and the need for greater coordination with partners in those efforts; improvements to appropriations, contracting, staffing, and military interoperability to improve the use and availability of new and existing resources; improvements and limitations to the military surplus process and equipment; and additional considerations, including aviation resource use in beneficial fire and the emerging importance of Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) – also known as “drones.”