Noemi Details Firefighting Role For Amphibious Aircraft

Noemi Aerospace is seeking partners to help “participate in defining and launching” a firefighting variant of its the electric passenger aircraft it is developing. The Norwegian start-up, which previously operated under the name Elfly, has concluded that the planned water-bomber would have a hybrid-electric or turbine-only powertrain in order to deliver sufficient payload and performance needed for firefighting.

According to Noemi CEO Eric Lithun, the company has been working on a multi-mission strategy for several years— including addressing potential firefighting, skydiving and military markets. In recent months, he told AIN it has “done more of the math” to confirm requirements for new variants of Noemi. With Europe notably suffering from more frequent and severe wildfires, Lithun also believes the market opportunity for an efficient, versatile, clean-sheet firefighting aircraft is significant and this is the basis for a plan first reported in May.

For the electric, nine-passenger aircraft, Noemi is targeting type certification and first deliveries in 2030 based on a design that would carry around 1.6 tons of batteries. “If you start to downsize that package and integrate a hybrid system, you really increase the useful load dramatically,” he said. 

According to the company, a waterbombing Noemi could carry around four tons of water or three tons of retardant. While this is less than the Canadair CL-415’s six-plus tons, Lithun said the the agility of the smaller aircraft would offer operational advantages. 

Noemi's head of design and chief engineer, Simon Bendrey, explained that the new version of the amphibian will be able to scoop water from the shortest length of any commercially available aircraft, using under 2,800 feet of open water rather than the Canadair’s 4,500 foot requirement. Its comparatively smaller size—leveraging the passenger-carrying Noemi’s plan to serve the fjords and islands of Norway—would also allow it to operate closer to a fire.

According to Bendrey, projected Noemi operating costs will be lower than another current fixed-wing firefighting option, the converted single-engine Air Tractor AT-802 originally designed as a crop-sprayer. “The big difference between us and the Air Tractor is two-pilot capacity,” he continued. “We also have lower drag, and additional redundancy in [Noemi’s] powertrain.” 

In theory, lower, but as-yet unspecified, operating costs could also allow countries to purchase more units, Lithun maintained. “If you can get to a fire quickly with a reasonable number of small aircraft, you’ve got a better chance of putting it out before it spreads,” he explained. 

Crucially, however, with firefighting aircraft fleets in critically short supply during peak periods, Noemi believes it can help expedite capabilities desperately needed across Europe. “This is why we see it as a huge market opportunity, and it’s a way to enter service,” suggested Lithun. 

An experimental firefighting version of Noemi could potentially be available earlier than the commercial variant’s 2030 EASA CS-23 certification and commercial deployment target, according to the company. With a preliminary design review completed in March, the company is now making tooling for Noemi’s first full-scale prototype, with component manufacturing set to commence later this month. 

The company expects to have a propellor test rig operational later this year, with a control system for the propulsion unit also under evaluation. It is aiming to have produced the first wing-set in early 2026 as it targets full assembly by mid-2027 followed by a first flight from Norway’s Sandefjord Airport in the fourth quarter of that year. 

Noemi's capital base was recently boosted by a €3 million ($3.46 million) funding award from Innovation Norway. This will help the company validate its aircraft across the whole flight envelope, although specific firefighting capabilities will be covered by a future campaign.