Italian Air Force Successfully Completes 3-Week Evaluation Of California-Based Company's Gear

Evaluation of a new aerial firefighting system developed by a California-based company has been completed by the Italian Air Force. Caylym says three significant milestones have been reached with its advanced aerial firefighting system, the Guardian. These developments have moved the Guardian closer to international acceptance as a primary choice in aerial firefighting.

The first milestone occurred after the Guardian completed a year of rigorous testing that lead to the Italian air force certifying the Guardian's use in Lockheed Martin's C-130J Super Hercules as an aerial firefighting system. For the past three years, it has been primarily Alenia's C-27J Spartan, that has carried and dropped the Guardian. "To see the Guardian being tested and dropped out of the C-130J is a tremendous leap forward for us and the firefighting community. There are over a thousand of these cargo aircraft in service in over seventy countries. This development now makes aerial firefighting a reality for many countries who could not support or maintain a separate fleet of tankers," said Rick Goddard, Managing Director of Caylym.

"The Guardian is now being deployed in two state-of-the- art aircraft, the highly nimble C-27J which can carry six units, or 6000 liters and the proven workhorse C-130J which can carry twenty units or 20,000 liters of water or retardant. Both of these aircraft will play vital roles in aerial firefighting in Europe and the Mediterranean region. Now, any country flying these popular aircraft can engage wildfires safely from the air, around the clock, using these readily available resources without airframe modification."

The Guardian achieved a second important certification in Natick, MA at the Army Testing Center, where it passed some of the most difficult G-force trials in the world. James Tadlock, Caylym's head of operations stated, "Passing the Natick trials is the most important step for the Guardian here in the United States. The Guardian firefighting system is ready for flights on US military C-130 and C-17 aircraft.

The third milestone was Caylym moving to a larger facility that will allow the company to significantly increase production and storage capacity. "Ordering patterns for this market are unique," said Tadlock. "Our customers don't order a hundred at a time but thousands and often with a quick deadline. This new facility allows us to manufacture and store enough Guardians to meet our customers current and future needs but it also gives us room to manufacture our Fontana potable water tank and our Bullworks rapid barrier system."

(Images provided by Caylym)

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