GPMS, Flightcell and Blue Sky Network Partner to Meet US Forest Service MATOC Requirements
GPMS International, Flightcell and Blue Sky Network jointly announce a combined solution featuring their technologies that create a fully compliant, lightweight, cost-efficient option for operators looking to bid on the recently released U.S. Forest Service Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) firefighting contract.
Executives from the companies explain that many operators are having difficulty finding workable solutions to satisfy the new requirements in the USFS contract. By pairing Flightcell’s and Blue Sky Network’s enabled communications, flight following, Additional Telemetry Unit (ATU), and cockpit audio recording with GPMS’s advanced health and usage monitoring system, the combined package meets new USFS requirements, including the “modern aircraft” specification for HUMS.
“After many discussions during the HAI Firefighting and Aerial Firefighting shows, operators told us that they are looking for a solution to meet the new USFS requirements without overburdening their aircraft with additional weight or complexity or stacking single system costs onto their budgets,” says Todd Powers, GPMS VP of Sales. “What we have created here with Flightcell and Blue Sky Network is a lightweight, economically efficient solution to bring aircraft into compliance and allow operators to compete for this new contract.”
Jason Hicks, VP of Business Development of Blue Sky Network, echoes the sentiment, adding, “We’re excited to announce a combined solution that checks all the boxes, requires no development or certifications, and is readily available today.”
The USFS Helicopter Support Services contract requires real-time communications, automatic flight following, and ATU bucket-drop data, together with cockpit audio recording and flight data monitoring (FDM) data. The new combined solution meets these requirements. It puts Flightcell’s DZMx Plus and SmartHUB cockpit audio and visual recording onboard, and, using Blue Sky Network’s connectivity service and SkyRouter™ fleet management platform, data is ported via a dual satellite/LTE modem, where operators get comms, ATU data, and flight-following in real time together with downloadable audio/video recording.
Completing the solution, GPMS’s Foresight MX system provides the in-depth flight- and machine-monitoring that are part of the MATOC’s modern aircraft requirements for HUMS. Foresight provides engine- and airframe-vibration monitoring; engine-performance monitoring and cycle counting; flight-data monitoring with exceedance alerting; as well as rotor track-and-balance monitoring and adjustment solutions.
John Wylie, CEO of Flightcell, says, “The joint solution, in addition to helping North American operators meet USFS requirements, provides a powerful combination of communication, connectivity and monitoring functionality for operations, safety and maintenance personnel. With Satcom, FDM and HUMS, you really get the suite needed to enhance safety and optimize maintenance.”
The companies are working together to provide further enhancements in 2023.