Wildfire Ignition Intervention  ·  Patent Pending

Stop Wildfire
At the Source.

Aero Shield UAS Services is developing a managed autonomous drone service for wildland fire ignition arrest and active fire intelligence — engaging fires at their earliest and most controllable stage, before escalation demands full-scale response.

Our Mission Partner With Us
Early
Intervention
Human
Supervised
Live
Fire Intelligence
24/7
Day & Night
Aero Shield UAS Services
Aero Shield UAS Services
About / Mission

The Fire Doesn't Wait.
Neither Do We.

Aero Shield UAS Services is a pre-revenue R&D-stage startup headquartered in Cle Elum, Washington — inside the wildland-urban interface, in the terrain we are building to protect.

We are developing a managed autonomous drone swarm service that operates upstream of traditional suppression — intervening during the earliest, most controllable phase of a wildland fire before it escalates beyond the reach of available resources.

Our business model is a managed aviation service. Customers contract for availability, coverage, and defined risk-reduction outcomes. Aero Shield assumes full operational, regulatory, and safety responsibility.

Upstream Intervention

Engaging ignition events before escalation demands full-scale response

Human Supervised

Human authorization governs every autonomous engagement

Fire Intelligence

Real-time ember tracking and incident command reporting

NDAA Compliant

All platforms selected to meet federal compliance requirements

Our Approach
"Wildfire is most stoppable in its first minutes. We build the systems that get there first."

Aero Shield operates in the gap between ignition and escalation — the window where a single-tree fire is still a single-tree fire. Our autonomous swarm service is designed to close that window, permanently.

Operational Modes

Five Operational
Modes.

Our service architecture spans five defined operational modes — from autonomous ignition arrest and night operations through post-fire thermal mapping and real-time fire intelligence.

Mode 1

Initial Ignition Arrest

Our core service. The system detects eligible ignition events, presents engagement data to a human supervisor, and executes autonomous multi-pass Class A foam suppression upon authorization — before the fire can escalate beyond initial scale.

Gen-1 · Core Service
Mode 2

Ember Offshoot Intercept

Night operations. Ember-initiated spot fires are among the most dangerous and least resourced threats in wildland fire. Our system intercepts offshoot ignitions before they establish — closing the overnight escalation window.

Gen-1 · Night Operations
Mode 3

Mop-Up & Hot Spot Suppression

Post-fire black area operations. Overwatch drones conduct a thermal survey before crew entry. AFEIS generates a georeferenced hot spot map. Suppression drones deliver targeted foam treatment. An updated map is delivered to the crew supervisor before ground entry — with a full before-and-after thermal evidence package.

Gen-1 · Near-Term Revenue
Mode 4

AFEIS Standalone Thermal Survey

Surveillance-only deployment. Overwatch drone(s) deliver georeferenced thermal mapping for mop-up planning, utility corridor monitoring, and perimeter surveillance — with no suppression deployment required. Gen-2 expands to a full commercial data product with agency API integration and GIS overlay.

Gen-1 / Gen-2 · Aero Shield IP
Mode 5

Perimeter Support on Unresourced Fronts

Extended coverage on fire perimeter segments where ground and air resources are unavailable. Reconnaissance and opportunistic micro-suppression where fires grow unchallenged — requiring Gen-2 dynamic role allocation and multi-zone supervisor management.

Gen-2 Roadmap
Leadership

Built by Operators.
Designed for the Field.

Our founding team brings together aerospace engineering, military aviation, commercial flight operations, and active wildfire UAS field experience — with deep roots in the communities we serve.

JJ
James Jones Founder · CEO · Principal Investigator

U.S. Army missile systems technician. Ten years at Boeing Commercial Airplanes — Flight Line, 777 Manufacturing Engineering, and Training Manager. Founder, Triumph Audio Video (15 years). FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot. UAS Wildland Fire Volunteer. Architect of the Aero Shield Swarm Engagement Doctrine and system CONOPS.

U.S. Army Boeing BCA FAA Part 107 UAS Wildland Fire NSF PI
IA
Ira Astrachan Co-Founder · VP Operations · Senior Key Personnel

B.S. Aerospace Engineering, USC — Summa Cum Laude. AIAA National Student Award. Flight Test Engineer, McDonnell Douglas. Propulsion Engineer, Rockwell International — Space Shuttle program. Delta Air Lines Captain and Line Check Airman. USAF Pilot — Desert Storm and NASA flight operations. FAA ATP. FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot. UAS Wildland Fire Volunteer.

Aerospace Eng. Space Shuttle Delta Captain USAF Pilot FAA ATP UAS Wildland Fire
News & Updates

Recent Milestones.

April 2026
Funding
NSF SBIR Phase I Proposal Submitted

Aero Shield has completed its National Science Foundation SBIR Phase I proposal — advancing the core research program across swarm coordination, sensor fusion, and human supervisory control architecture.

April 2026
IP
USPTO Provisional Patent Filed

Aero Shield has filed a USPTO Provisional Patent covering the core system innovations, including the Active Fire Ember Intelligence System (AFEIS) and the multi-drone cooperative engagement architecture. Patent Pending.

May 2026
Event
AUVSI XPONENTIAL 2026 — Detroit

The Aero Shield founding team will be at XPONENTIAL 2026 in Detroit, May 11–14. We welcome meetings with fire agencies, technology partners, and investors. Contact us to schedule time.

March 2026
Operations
Federal Research Registrations Complete

SAM.gov, Research.gov, and ORCID registrations are complete — establishing the full federal grant infrastructure for NSF, USDA, and NASA SBIR submissions.

2026
Development
Gen-1 Platform Development Underway

Aero Shield is advancing Gen-1 airframe selection, sensor integration, and suppression delivery system development ahead of controlled burn validation trials.

2026
Research
University Research Partnerships in Development

Aero Shield is establishing academic research partnerships to support the NSF SBIR program across sensor fusion, swarm coordination, and human supervisory control.

Contact

Let's Talk.

We are actively engaging fire agencies, utility operators, research institutions, and investors. We welcome conversations about partnerships, pilot programs, and grant collaboration.

Website
www.aeroshielduas.com
Headquarters
Cle Elum, Washington  ·  Kittitas County
Email
info@aeroshielduas.com
XPONENTIAL 2026 — Detroit, May 11–14

Attending AUVSI XPONENTIAL in Detroit. Contact us to schedule a meeting with the Aero Shield founding team.