NASA, known mainly as the American space agency, employs elite teams of test pilots and engineers who landed on the moon, developed space shuttles, and deployed research spacecraft to Mars. These are the people who won the Cold War space race.

NASA also conducts aviation research, identifying challenges and developing solutions. Today, they are working on efficient manned drones and a passenger aircraft that drastically reduces flight times without creating sonic booms, which prevented the Concorde revolution 50 years ago.

Recently, NASA was tasked with developing wildfire firefighting capabilities as part of the need to combat the rise in climate-induced mega fires. The mission primarily operates from the air. In the crucial initial hours of a wildfire, whether it becomes a small local event or a major costly incident is determined. NASA aims to deploy significant aerial power immediately upon fire detection, in the initial stages of firefighting to stop or contain the fire.

(credit: Adir Haruvi)
(credit: Adir Haruvi)
The drone revolution unfolding in battlefields in Ukraine, Gaza, and Lebanon will also transform civilian aviation and our lives. With delivery drones dropping packages at our doorsteps instead of couriers on scooters, and cargo drones transporting heavy and urgent deliveries between hospitals, logistics centers, airports, and seaports, and drones serving fire, rescue, and surveillance forces. And of course, manned passenger drones, "flying taxis," continue the revolution started by helicopters, but without ending it due to high purchase and operating costs.

"To make this happen, an efficient system is needed to prevent collisions between aircraft. Collisions between drones endanger not only themselves and their cargo, but also us pedestrians walking under them. A system that prevents collisions between drones and manned aircraft like helicopters," explains Col. Moshe Cohen, CEO of Ciconia and one of its founders. "Today, there is an air traffic control system with human controllers managing traffic, and most aircraft still have a human element that can identify collision danger and react. In an era where thousands of drones will fly simultaneously, just in Israeli skies alone, control cannot be solely human. Every aircraft will have a system that identifies situations where the pilot endangers another aircraft, and prevents collision."

Cohen is one of the legendary helicopter pilots of the Air Force. He commanded the Cobra Squadron, the first Apache Squadron commander. He also received the Chief of Staff Citation of Merit during Operation "Blue and White" in 1988, where he and pilots Eran Fayer, Dan Leluz, and Yilin Marcello rescued under fire four Golani fighters from their burning, crashed helicopters in Lebanon.

Ciconia, the scientific name for the acacia tree, which symbolizes its ability to fly in large flocks without colliding, is helping to restore the era of drones. Cohen, together with former test pilot Lt. Col. Gil Yanai, commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center and Boeing 787 Cabernet, and Dr. Ilan Zohar, a specialist in electrical engineering and drones and as a project manager. They were joined by another test pilot and algorithmic specialist, Lt. Col. Eran Bar On, flight test engineer Ronen Shtofman, and software engineer Misha Poyarkov.

"The Air Force has already lost helicopters and aircraft, and many pilots and passengers in collisions long before the helicopter disaster. But only after I was discharged and already in the industry, did I start working on the solution. We built an initial algorithm to show the Air Force that we have a solution. The Air Force tested the solution in their simulator. Senior helicopter pilots came to evaluate the system in the simulator. We learned that in manned aircraft, it is important not only to warn the pilot in time and indicate where to turn to avoid an accident, but the command must also make sense to him logically. If he is used to turning right, it won't help if we tell him to turn left. We brought a revised version.

"The Air Force installed the systems on two Black Hawk helicopters. The test pilots got off the helicopters and praised: 'It works'. We planned two flights, one for data collection, parameter calibration, and one for the experiment. There was no need for the second flight. Our C&CAS operated well already on the first flight."

(credit: Adir Haruvi)
(credit: Adir Haruvi)
The system is a relatively inexpensive base installed in any aircraft. It broadcasts flight data and its current route over kilometers. Thus, each aircraft can build a sky picture for itself without the need for a central system. A human pilot receives a warning and, if necessary, an immediate emergency instruction; a drone receives its flight control instructions from the system.

Cohen says, "Large passenger aircraft have had a TCAS collision prevention system for years. These aircraft fly long distances apart from each other except when approaching landing and takeoff. If we take such safety ranges into the era of drones, there will be no room in the skies for many of them. Our system allows to compress the airspace, accommodate more aircraft in the same airspace and still reduce the likelihood of collision in the air. According to our estimates, commercial demands already exist today and will greatly increase in the coming years."

The Air Force has not yet equipped the system, and Ciconia continues to develop it with experiments conducted with Robinson helicopters and civilian drones, funded by the BIRD Foundation, a U.S.-Israeli dual-national foundation, and private investors. "The BIRD Foundation has assisted and continues to assist along the way. In the past year and a half, there has been an awakening. We have conversations already with two serious customers, and many inquiries. More and more entities encounter a problem, are bothered, and are seeking solutions."

One of the entities is NASA, which integrated the Ciconia team with Nes Tziyona and Be'er Sheva into its work teams for aerial surveillance and prevention of drone and project managers, alongside giants like Airbus. Ciconia's solution, professionally known as C&CAS (Coordination & Collision Avoidance System), already appears in ONOPS (Concept of Operations) documents as one of the technologies that will revolutionize firefighting from the air.

The commercial potential is enormous: beyond selling the system to any aircraft, at a price that can reach thousands of dollars per unit, depending on the aircraft, system use requires subscription fees for operation and maintenance and could reach annual revenues in the billions. The system performs well in tests and simulations, and the company is working on acquiring the capability for C&CAS to prevent collisions between flight systems in both equipped and unequipped aircraft.

(credit: Dror Ben David)
(credit: Dror Ben David)
The first field expected to adopt the technology is forest firefighting in North America, starting as early as next year. "The most burning issue in aerial firefighting, which we have also encountered here, is the risk of collision. Firefighting and surveillance forces use drones to locate fire hotspots and monitor the progress. During a fire, firefighting pilots operate under harsh conditions—very low altitude, smoke, often intense heat, and significant fatigue. Drones are difficult to spot from the air. Therefore, to avoid collisions, when a firefighting helicopter or plane arrives, all drones must be grounded. However, drones are crucial lifesaving equipment that allows firefighters to continue using them even when firefighting aircraft are operating in the vicinity. We have proven through numerous trials and simulations that with C&CAS, planes, drones, and helicopters can operate together without the risk of collision."

Another problem that C&CAS solves is preventing the dropping of fire retardants from aircraft onto firefighters on the ground during forest fires. "In forest fires, the pilot cannot see firefighters on the ground. Accidents have occurred in the past due to the dropping of fire retardants near firefighters on the ground. In one incident, a tree collapsed, killing one firefighter and injuring two others. In another incident, firefighters were washed with fluids several hundred meters down a steep slope. C&CAS will prevent such incidents," says Cohen.