Randomly stumbled across a video of a drone or helicopter (sounds like a chopper, glimpses of what looks like a landing skid) attempting to start a forest fire. Some of the comments indicate that this was part of a controlled burn, but I couldn’t find out more about it. There are a number of videos on YouTube showing the “heli-torch” in operation, basically an unmotivated flamethrower package that can be carried suspended beneath a helicopter (looks like usually a Bell UH-1, but also Rangers and Loaches) for the purposes of started prescribed burns in more difficult to access locations.
In any event, a drone that not only can start forest fires but actually has would be an interesting development. Looks like it’s spraying out gasoline or something. But if, instead, it squirted out napalm or thermite, the military applications could be reasonably horrific; swooping in over trenches to lay down dribbles of fire on enemy troops would seem a first use. This sort of thing would be unlikely to kill a lot of soldiers except for the rare instance of setting fire to a pile of ordnance or a fuel dump… but flaming drips falling onto soldiers heads or backs would very likely take them out of action.
@swat_leader
Heli-torch vid: