Description: Current aerial wildland fire management is limited by existing operational limitations imposed by regulations and manual airspace management techniques, inhibiting integration of new aircraft types such as UAS. Core issues preventing optimal use of the wildfire response airspace are: Lack of integrated planning and deconfliction between manned aircraft and UAS Lack of manned aircraft situational awareness of UAS operations Limited range and operating conditions of UAS operations due to VLOS restrictions To overcome these limitations, we propose a solution composed of an Expeditionary BVLOS Kit and a UTM Airspace Assistant The Expeditionary BVLOS Kit provides a common foundation for UAS BVLOS operations and airspace surveillance. It provides: Cooperative and uncooperative aircraft surveillance - detection, tracking, and alerting Micro-weather surveillance and alerting Local and wide-area communications BVLOS UAS operations in all phases of wildland fire management (pre-, active-, and post-fire) Built on Anzen Unmanned BVLOS approval blueprint used for multiple Part 107 BVLOS waivers and 44807 exemptions Designed for BVLOS today and for adaptable for future BVLOS regulations The UTM Airspace Assistant is an operations center on-premise UTM implementation that leverages the kit’s airspace surveillance, weather surveillance, and communications to: Provide a composite airspace picture (both manned and unmanned) Provide a composite micro- and macro-weather picture including real-time and predictive weather Assist in identifying and mitigating conflict Automate management of UAS operations The proposed solution integrates with current wildland fire UAS, equipment, and airspace management, supplementing them with additional capability and safety - and provides a foundation for future growth, enabling more effective use of UAS, integrated ground and airborne infrastructure, enhanced airspace management, and transformative autonomy.

Benefits: Advanced airborne emergency response ConOps development Integrated UAS/manned airspace management proofs-of-concept Automated UAS/manned airspace coordination development Airborne wildfire response ConOps development Expeditionary BVLOS infrastructure for drone operations research Sensor and communications infrastructure node for evaluations and POC development UTM resilience and IASMS testbed Testbed for manned aircraft UAS alerting and situational awareness

Wildfire and emergency response BVLOS and airspace surveillance infrastructure Expeditionary BVLOS infrastructure for commercial BVLOS operations (e.g., inspections, survey, imagery, security) Mobile and expeditionary airspace/ground surveillance and communication node Integrated, field deployable UAS/manned traffic management (ATM-X) Manned aircraft UAS alerting infrastructure