Wildfire disasters are increasing in scale and severity, underscoring the need for more capable and coordinated aerial firefighting systems. This work presents a performance-based integrated aerial system framework that links the aircraft design tool RISPECT+ with the wildfire mission analysis tool SoSID Toolkit+ to evaluate and optimize system-level effectiveness. Incorporating terrain-specific wildfire characteristics, the framework identifies optimal aircraft configurations and deployment strategies that maximize integrated measurement of effectiveness across diverse regions. A unified surveillance platform strengthens the system of systems architecture and supports the operation of aerial firefighting aircraft. Results show enhanced system-oriented design and multi-agent coordination, with future work focused on optimal designs across diverse aircraft configurations and integrating operational environmental factors relevant to aerial firefighting.

This study develops an integrated assessment framework to identify the operational and infrastructure determinants of damage mitigation in aerial wildfire suppression. The framework links wildfire spread, mission-cycle operations, suppression strategy, fleet deployment, and base allocation under heterogeneous terrain, fuel, weather, and accessibility conditions. Two contrasting wildfire cases, Palisades and Salamis, are evaluated using an integrated measure of effectiveness that accounts for burned area, economic damage, carbon emissions, aircraft acquisition costs, and operating costs. Results show that suppression efficiency is governed not by fleet size alone, but by the interaction among response timing, dispatch geometry, base accessibility, and strategy-specific target selection. Earlier access in Palisades enables high effectiveness with a smaller case-optimal fleet, whereas longer access times in Salamis shift the best solution toward larger deployment. These findings indicate that effective damage mitigation in aerial wildfire suppression requires joint consideration of operational strategy, fleet allocation, and infrastructure accessibility, supporting risk-informed emergency aviation planning under climate-driven wildfire risk.

This study develops a transport-environment framework for evaluating aerial wildfire suppression as a fleet deployment problem. The model links wildfire spread, mission-cycle operations, base allocation, and suppression strategy under heterogeneous terrain, fuel, weather, and accessibility conditions. The two contrasting cases are evaluated using an integrated effectiveness metric that accounts for burned area, economic damage, carbon emissions, acquisition costs, and operating costs. Results show that efficiency depends on response timing, dispatch geometry, and base accessibility rather than fleet size alone. Earlier access in Palisades enables high effectiveness with a smaller case-optimal fleet, whereas longer access times in Salamis shift the best solution toward larger deployment. The findings support transport-system planning for aerial firefighting under climate-driven wildfire risk.