First Machine to the Fire
Five teams are racing across 1,000 square kilometers of Alaska to prove a machine can fight a wildfire with no human in the loop.
The deck
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The story
This is the XPRIZE Wildfire autonomous track, an 11 million dollar contest field-tested through the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The winner is expected in September 2026.
The deck covers the Alaska test range, the five finalists cut from nearly 300 teams, the loop each machine has to close from spark to suppression, the prize money, and the caveat that keeps getting skipped, a contest winner is not the same as proof.
Would you trust an autonomous machine to reach an Interior fire before a crew could, or does that claim need a full Alaska summer first?
What we verified
28 CLAIMS, EACH RE-FETCHED FROM ITS SOURCE BEFORE THIS DECK SHIPPED
XPRIZE Wildfire is a four-year, $11 million global competition to accelerate solutions that end destructive wildfires.
The finalist teams were narrowed from an original field of nearly 300 teams worldwide.
XPRIZE Wildfire program director Andrea Santy said wildfires are becoming more frequent, intense, unpredictable and destructive.
Dryad Networks says its Silvanet sensors and Silvaguard drone detected a small wildfire within minutes of ignition and autonomously suppressed it with no human on scene during Alaska field trials.
Dryad says its Silvaguard drone can deliver up to 100 liters of fire suppressant directly onto an ignition point.
Dryad says more than 30,000 Silvanet sensors have been manufactured and deployed globally and that Silvanet has been deployed by more than 50 customers worldwide.
Dryad CEO Carsten Brinkschulte said the competition validated that ultra-early detection combined with rapid autonomous suppression can fundamentally change how society fights wildfires.
Alaska has experienced three of its four largest fire seasons in the last 25 years.
In some years, such as 2022, Alaska accounted for nearly half of the total US acreage burned by wildfires.
ReconCraft LLC of Anchorage, Alaska was awarded a $24,960,408 firm-fixed-price contract for autonomous low-profile vessels.
The ReconCraft contract number is N00024-26-C-6324, a Naval Sea Systems Command award.
The Autonomous Wildfire Response track has five finalist teams, Anduril (USA), Data Blanket (USA), Dryad (Germany), FireSwarm Solutions (Canada), and Wildfire Quest (USA).
Work on the ReconCraft contract is performed in Clackamas, Oregon and is expected to be completed by November 2028.
The ReconCraft contract was not competitively procured, per FAR 19.805-1(b)(2).
The full $24,960,408 was obligated at award from FY2026 accelerated procurement and fielding of innovative technologies (Navy) funds.
According to Sen. Sullivan's office, the FY2027 NDAA authorizes a historic $2.6 billion in military construction and projects specifically for Alaska.
The FY2027 NDAA includes 56 provisions and amendments authored by Sen. Sullivan.
The bill authorizes $15 million for resilient autonomous sensing in the Arctic.
The bill authorizes $10 million for autonomy within the Golden Dome missile defense system.
The bill mandates rigorous grid impact assessments before executing or renewing any Enhanced Use Lease (EUL), reviewing energy demands and commercial grid stability.
The bill would establish an Analytics and Simulation Laboratory within the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies.
The Autonomous track finals field-test across a 1,000 square kilometer test zone in Alaska.
The Alaska testing partner is the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute.
ACUASI is one of the FAA-designated UAS test sites.
The winning team in each XPRIZE Wildfire track receives $3.5 million.
A $1 million bonus prize sponsored by Lockheed Martin is available to eligible Autonomous teams demonstrating superior detection.
A $750,000 semifinal purse was distributed equally among the five Autonomous finalist teams.
The XPRIZE Wildfire winner is expected to be announced in September 2026.
Beats
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