Google is asking the US Federal Aviation Administration for permission to test a drone for monitoring and fighting fires, according to a document filed Tuesday with the FAA.
The ask comes from Google parent Alphabet’s Google Research Climate and Energy Group — not the company’s Wing subsidiary, whose drone delivery service was certified by the FAA in 2019. Wing drones are currently being used to deliver food and medicine during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Google Research group is asking for permission to operate an unmanned aircraft system called the HSE-UAV M8A Pro, which weighs between 55 and 99 pounds. That drone, made by Homeland Surveillance & Electronics LLC for agricultural purposes like spraying chemicals on crops, could in theory be filled with water to put out a fire, a Bloomberg report noted.
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