Autonomous trial covered 1,000 square kilometres in June 2026
Dryad Networks detected a small wildfire within minutes of ignition and triggered an autonomous suppression response during the XPRIZE Wildfire finals in remote Alaska in June 2026.
The Berlin-based company competed in the Autonomous Wildfire Response track of XPRIZE Wildfire, a four-year global competition worth $11 million. Only three finalists reached the last stage from an original field of nearly 300 teams worldwide.
Final testing challenged teams to detect and suppress a wildfire without any human intervention across a 1,000 square kilometre test area. During the exercise, Dryad’s Silvanet wildfire sensors detected the ignition and triggered the company’s Silvaguard drone system.
Silvaguard then located and attacked the fire without human involvement. Dryad says the suppression drone can deliver 100 litres of liquid suppressant to tackle small wildfires detected by Silvanet.
Carsten Brinkschulte, chief executive and co-founder of Dryad Networks, called the result one of the proudest moments in the company’s history. He said the finals performance showed that a fully autonomous system can detect and respond to wildfire ignitions within minutes under difficult conditions in Alaska.
Carsten Brinkschulte on the Alaska test
Brinkschulte also said the performance of both Silvanet and Silvaguard exceeded the company’s expectations. He argued that ultra-early detection combined with rapid autonomous suppression could change how wildfires are fought by stopping fires before they grow.
Silvanet is Dryad’s fully industrialised, solar-powered wildfire detection network for remote forests and wildlands. The system is built around the Silvanet Wildfire Sensor, an AI-enabled environmental device that continuously monitors volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and PM2.5 linked to the earliest stages of wildfire ignition.
The sensors communicate through Dryad’s proprietary Silvanet Mesh Network and direct-to-satellite connectivity. That setup is designed to send alerts from remote areas where conventional communications can be limited.
Meanwhile, the XPRIZE Wildfire finals were aimed at speeding up new tools to end destructive wildfires. Dryad described its showing in Alaska as a significant milestone for efforts to protect communities, ecosystems and critical infrastructure from catastrophic fires.
The winner of the XPRIZE Wildfire competition is expected to be announced in September 2026. However, Dryad presented its finals result as proof that autonomous detection and suppression can already work together in real conditions.
