Better Ideas From America: Really Big Water Balloons

"Water bombs"
Boeing Frontiers Online (August 2003)

"Boeing invention could make C-17 a firefighter"

"A beach ball-sized water bomb may some day take the danger out of aerial firefighting and greatly reduce the time and cost to extinguish a blaze.

"The concept stems from a program sponsored by the Boeing Chairman's Innovation Initiative, which provides the context for Boeing people with great ideas to create new businesses."

It sounds like something out of a cartoon: Water balloons the size of beach balls arrayed in a C-17. Since each 50-pound batch of water's in a container, they have predictable aerodynamic characteristics: a fancy way of saying that they can be dropped accurately.

And, the water doesn't spread out until in hits the ground.

Sounds like smart design. And, from the description, cost-effective.

Eventually, we may actually see the things used.

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