A drone company that will feature at Global Drone Show 2026 and started in regional Tasmania, has taken on more than 130 teams from around the world and finished third in one of the world’s biggest autonomous technology challenges.
Taz Drone Solutions (TDS), based at Sheffield near Launceston, has shared a US$500,000 prize after finishing third in the Autonomous Wildfire Response track of the US$11 million XPRIZE Wildfire competition.
The challenge required teams to develop technology capable of autonomously detecting and suppressing a high-risk fire anywhere across an area of around 1000 square kilometres within 10 minutes of ignition.
TDS was one of four founding partners of Fire Foresight, which progressed through qualifying and semi-finals before competing at the XPRIZE finals in Alaska in June. The team’s result was announced in New York in September.
TDS provided its heavy-lift aircraft, including its BFD and Vhagar drones, for investigation and suppression operations during the competition.
The company was founded by Andrew Davies 10 years ago and has grown from a regional Tasmanian operation into a business designing, building and flying heavy-lift drones for mining, energy and emergency response.
“The challenge was about proving autonomous technology can detect and respond to a fire quickly, but the technology has applications well beyond bushfires — from emergency response to mining and keeping people out of dangerous environments,” Mr Davies said.
“We’ve spent the past decade building and operating heavy-lift drones in real-world environments, and this result shows what Australian companies, including those from regional areas, can achieve on the world stage.”
TDS will now bring that experience to the Gold Coast as part of Global Drone 2026, where Mr Davies will appear on panels examining autonomous wildfire response and the use of drones in mining.
The company is also behind Prismo, a drone system designed to place survey prisms on mine benches and berms without putting workers near unstable pit walls. More than 3000 prisms and tripods have been installed, including for BHP operations in Western Australia, with a first international trial with Vale in Brazil conducted in 2026.
Global Drone founder Leanne St. George said TDS was an example of the Australian technology companies the event was designed to showcase.
“Andrew’s story is exactly why Global Drone exists — to showcase the Australian companies developing technology that can compete with the best in the world.”
“Having a Tasmanian company that has just finished third in a major global technology challenge bringing that experience to the Gold Coast is a fantastic opportunity for our audience to hear what the future of autonomous technology actually looks like.”
Global Drone 2026 will bring together 200 global brands and more than 120 live demonstrations across drones, robotics, advanced air mobility, defence, emergency response, mining, agriculture, entertainment and sport.
