Fire Extinguishing Rocket System In China

Net Guard UAV Concept proposed a novel way of saving people trapped in a high-rise fire, but it did not address the still raging fire that could potentially bring the building down, causing an even more catastrophic event. Aerones Drone seems to have that covered, but alas, it is limited by the length of the hose and tether. While the rest of the world seems to be happy to rely on the existing mitigation systems, such as sprinkle, fire curtain and whatnot, a Chinese company has adapted military tech to develop a radical, new kind of high-rise fire-fighting system.

Fire Extinguishing Rocket System In China
It can deal with raging from this far away.

The company has developed a so-called Fire Extinguishing Rocket System is China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation back in 2015 and it has since been adopted by several fire fighting branch in China. And yes, it is Multiple Rocket Launch System (MRLS) based system. No, seriously. They actually did that and you know what? It is actually kind of brilliant. The concept is simple enough. Rockets equipped with extinguishing agents are launched from a custom fire truck to the floor that caught fire. The rockets is designed to break through windows to get inside the building and disperse 3.6 kilograms (7.9 lbs) of fire extinguishing agents to suppress the fire.

Fire Extinguishing Rocket System In China

The rockets can hit targets up to 300 meters (984 feet) or about up to 80 stories high, and capable of smashing through up to 19 mm (0.75-inch) thick glass, even when the rockets are launched from hundreds of meters away. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, which also happens to be the country’s largest missile manufacturer, said each rocket can cover a room of up to 60 cubic meters (2,119 cubic feet). The system is not a blind system; it works very much like the actual MLRS in that it uses infrared and laser sensors to pinpoint the target and the launch system’s computer crunches the data to determine the trajectory before sending the rocket on its way.

Fire Extinguishing Rocket System In China

Like the military counterpart, it can do so pretty damn fast, unleashing the entire salvo of 24 rockets in 72 seconds and it can be quickly reloaded. In the event that the rocket deviates from the set course, a control system will guide the said rocket to descent safely to the ground – presumably without triggering the fire extinguishing agents. Hujialou Fire Squadron in Chaoyang district in Beijing was the first fire department to receive this fire fighting vehicle in 2017. Prior to that, a chemical producer in Shandong province has also adopted such fire fight vehicle.

Source and images: China Daily/HKFP.