AFRL technology developed MAFFS 40 years ago

  • Published
  • By Connie Rankin
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. --  The last two Modular Airborne Fire-fighting System equipped C-130 aircrafts here in support of wildfire suppression returned to their home station July 14.

The MAFFS flew 242 sorties and 215.3 hours. They dropped 609,960 gallons of water weighing 5,550,640 pounds. The aircrafts were staged at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., to help with local wildfires.

The U.S. Forest Service owns the MAFFS units but they were developed by the Air Force Weapons Laboratory, now the Air Force Research Laboratory. at Kirtland AFB in 1971. AFWL and Food Machinery Corporation began development with a two-tank prototype to test ground dispersal patterns and coverage with positive results. The next version was a five-tank prototype that was ready for testing in just five weeks.

The successful tests of the prototypes laid the groundwork for the a MAFFS operational prototype, which included updates of moving the dispersal tubes to the rear of the aircraft to make them retractable for drag reduction and pallet-ready to make it quicker to load and offload. FMC received the contract award in June 1972, and conducted the final flight tests in 1973.

After two and a half years of development at a cost of $470,942, AFWL declared MAFFS ready to assist U.S. Forest Service in fighting fires.

The MAFFS could disperse fire retardant at the correct altitudes even in significant crosswinds, with no aircraft control problems during discharge. The Industrial Research Magazine recognized the contributions of AFWL and FMC, awarding the combined team the I-R 100 award citing MAFFS as one of the most significant new technological products for 1972.

By 1974 the U.S. Forest Service purchased seven MAFFS systems for storage at Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve bases across the nation. The success of the MAFFS led to the next generation system, MAFFS 2.

The new system included reducing tank weight by using composite materials, developed by AFWL, employing a positive-feed delivery stem, which increased the total volume of retardant from 3,600 to 4,300 gallons, depending on the C-130.

MAFFS 2 saved time and money by replacing ground support equipment with a self-contained on-board compressor system.

MAFFS is an example of Air Force technology, interagency cooperation and timely research and development with AFWL and its contractors to find a quick solution for a life-threatening situation with wildfires.

MAFFS has saved lives and property every fire season for more than 35 years. Now the MAFFS-equipped C-130s are capable of discharging 3,000 gallons of water or retardant in less than five seconds.