THERMAL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 30, 2026--
Coulson Aviation today introduced CFR HALO, a next-generation long-term fire retardant engineered specifically for modern aircraft, tank systems, and wildfire missions. It is the first product from Coulson EmberWorks, the company’s research and development division dedicated to advancing aerial firefighting technologies.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260729960073/en/
Developed through four decades of aerial firefighting operations and collaboration with firefighters, pilots, engineers, and agency partners, CFR HALO has advanced from formulation and internal validation into formal external qualification.
CFR HALO is undergoing testing with the Centre d’Essais et de Recherche de l’Entente Valabre, known as CEREN, as part of the French qualification process. In parallel, it is advancing through the USDA Forest Service qualification process for inclusion on the Qualified Products List, or QPL.
Together, these programs will independently evaluate CFR HALO’s performance, environmental profile, and operational suitability through two of the world’s leading aerial firefighting qualification systems, building a technical foundation for agency acceptance in Australia and key South American markets.
“Wildfires have changed. The aircraft have changed. The retardant hasn’t kept up,” said Britt Coulson, President and COO of Coulson Aviation. “Many legacy formulations trace their origins to an era before today’s airtankers and precision delivery systems. We cannot keep fighting today’s fires with chemistry designed for yesterday’s aircraft. As operators, we had to step in and build what the industry needs next. CFR HALO is engineered for modern airtankers, with environmental performance built in from the start and a formulation designed to keep more of each load where firefighters need it.”
CFR HALO uses mission-optimized viscosity and flow characteristics designed to improve drop cohesion, reduce airborne drift, and support more accurate placement within the intended target area. The formulation can be optimized for different aircraft, terrain, weather conditions, and mission requirements while maintaining the long-term fire-retarding performance agencies depend on.
CFR HALO is also designed to integrate with existing retardant mixing, loading and application infrastructure without requiring agencies to replace established delivery systems or materially change operating procedures.
CFR HALO is grounded in Coulson’s direct operational experience. Over four decades, the company has seen the growing scale and intensity of wildfire response firsthand. In 2026 alone, Coulson’s fixed-wing and rotary-wing fleet has already delivered more than 10 million gallons of water and wildfire suppressant to fires worldwide.
CFR HALO extends Coulson’s integrated aerial firefighting model beyond aircraft and tank systems to the formulation delivered to the fireline. It is the first of several technologies in development through Coulson EmberWorks, including intelligent sensing, mission systems, and next-generation aerial response capabilities.
About Coulson EmberWorks
Coulson EmberWorks is the research and development division of Coulson Aviation, dedicated to advancing aerial firefighting through operationally driven innovation.
Built by operators, engineers, scientists and aviation professionals, EmberWorks develops practical technologies across suppression chemistry, intelligent sensing, mission systems, and next-generation aerial response. Every program has one objective: helping firefighters operate more safely, effectively and with better information.
About Coulson Aviation
Coulson Aviation is the world’s largest private aerial firefighting company, built on more than 60 years of operational heritage and four decades of aerial firefighting experience.
Operating across North America, South America, and Australia, Coulson supports national, state, provincial, regional and local government agencies worldwide. The company operates an advanced mixed fleet of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft supported by proprietary retardant delivery systems, intelligence platforms, training and mission support.
By investing ahead of operational demand and focusing on sustainable, in-production airframes and continuous innovation, Coulson is helping set the standard for the future of aerial firefighting.
Coulson Aviation has introduced CFR HALO, a next-generation long-term fire retardant engineered specifically for modern aircraft, tank systems and wildfire missions. It is designed with mission-optimized viscosity and flow characteristics to improve drop cohesion, reduce airborne drift, and support more accurate placement within the intended target area. CFR HALO is currently advancing through independent qualification programs with CEREN in France and the USDA Forest Service for inclusion on the Qualified Products List (QPL). These programs will evaluate its performance, environmental profile, and operational suitability.
CAIRO (AP) — Jordan’s air defenses shot down five missiles launched from Iran Thursday morning, the country's state-run Petra news agency said, hours after the U.S. military announced it had completed “a heavy wave of strikes against Iran” in response to an earlier Iranian missile attack on a U.S. base in Jordan.
No casualties were reported from Jordan's interception of the missiles, the news agency quoted the spokesman for the country's armed forces as saying.
The U.S. Central Command said in a social media post that for over two hours the United States had struck “dozens” of targets belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, including military command centers as well as missile and drone facilities, and coastal surveillance and defense sites.
The new strikes came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran “very hard” after it targeted a base in Jordan that hosts U.S. troops.
Iran's official IRNA news agency said three people were killed and two were wounded in a strike on the island of Qeshm, which lies just off the Iranian mainland in the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest barrage came after the U.S. partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Iran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters and six Iranian advisers on Wednesday.
The flare-ups on multiple fronts after several days of relative calm raised the risk of a return to all-out war. It also underscored the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict that has jolted the world economy and is unpopular among Americans. The fighting was likely to add to concerns that the U.S. is further drawing down already diminished stockpiles of sophisticated munitions needed to defend its bases and allies.
Elsewhere, British maritime security firm Ambrey said drone strikes ignited fires on two natural gas vessels at the Egyptian port of Damietta. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes on a U.S.-owned floating storage facility and a Greek-owned tanker. No injuries were reported.
Egypt, a close U.S. ally and regional mediator, is one of the only countries in the Middle East to have been spared direct military action during the war. A strike by Iran or its allies, if confirmed, would mark a significant widening of the conflict.
Asked during an Oval Office event if Iran was responsible for the strikes on the natural gas vessels, Trump responded: “It’s a little more of the same.”
“In the meantime, we’re going to be hitting them very hard because it’s our turn to hit them,” he added.
Saudi Arabia had accused the Iraqi militias of firing drones against its oil facilities over the past days. An umbrella group of Iraqi militias initially denied the allegations, while another Iran-backed group — the Houthi rebels in Yemen — said they had attacked Saudi energy facilities as part of a separate but related conflict.
Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman met separately on Wednesday with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, according to two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly about the private meetings.
They said the Saudi decision to join the U.S. attacks against the Iraqi militias was meant to send a message to Iran that it wouldn’t tolerate Iran or its proxies targeting the Saudi oil industry and other critical infrastructure. At the same time, the defense minister underscored to Trump and Vance that the Saudis want to see a de-escalation in the war and for Washington and Tehran to return to negotiations.
Before the latest eruption, mediators had expressed optimism about bringing the U.S. and Iran back to the negotiating table. An interim agreement collapsed in recent weeks over renewed fighting in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy supplies that Iranian attacks have again effectively closed.
A regional official said mediators are “still trying with both sides” to restore calm and get the ceasefire back on track. He gave no details on whether progress was being made and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door diplomacy.
Saudi Arabia is also locked in a renewed conflict with the Houthis. The rebels have declared a blockade of Saudi shipping that could choke off another crucial Middle East trade route, the Bab el-Mandeb strait from the Red Sea into the Gulf of Aden.
On Monday, the Houthis said they had launched drones targeting oil facilities used to transport oil across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port city of Yanbu, a key bypass for Saudi exports blocked by Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
The rebels said the attack was in response to a Saudi drone they said had breached Yemen’s airspace.
Planet Labs satellite imagery from Monday analyzed by The Associated Press showed damage to Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq oil-processing facility. The massive facility is capable of processing approximately 7 million barrels of crude oil per day.
Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad, Iraq, contributed.
FILE - A man sits on a surfboard as a container ship and other commercial vessels appear anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 27, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP, File)
