According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center, wildfires burned nearly seven million acres of land in the United States in 2011. In Texas alone, more than 1,500 homes were destroyed.
For the past several years, Boeing has been testing and perfecting a system – Precision Container Aerial Delivery System (PCADS) – that could help firefighters battle wildfires by allowing cargo planes to not only drop more water on the fire in less time, but to do it with precision.