The Berlin company’s Silvanet sensor network and Silvaguard drones detected, verified and suppressed target fires during the Autonomous Wildfire Response finals in Alaska.
Dryad Networks has received $800,000 in the XPRIZE Wildfire competition for its performance in the Autonomous Wildfire Response finals in Alaska. The Berlin company advanced from an original field of roughly 300 entrants in the four-year competition. In June 2026, three finalists faced the task of autonomously detecting and completely suppressing a high-risk wildfire within 10 minutes of ignition across 1,000 square kilometers (about 386 square miles) of Alaskan wilderness, while leaving decoy fires untouched.
During the tests, Dryad’s Silvanet sensor network detected and verified target fires in 12 minutes or less and then autonomously launched a response, ignoring the decoys. The Silvaguard Observation Drone supplied situational awareness, and the Suppression Drone then hit the fire with suppressant. The XPRIZE Wildfire judging panel awarded $2.5 million across the three Track B finalist teams, including Fire Foresight and the AURA Foresight team. In Dryad’s case, judges specifically recognized the 170-sensor persistent Silvanet field network combined with Silvaguard drones for demonstrating end-to-end autonomy.
“This award is a tremendous external validation of our technology and vision,” said Carsten Brinkschulte, chief executive and co-founder of Dryad Networks. “Our vision is fully aligned with XPRIZE Wildfire: detect and extinguish fires within 10 minutes of ignition. To achieve this, fires must be detected within minutes, ideally during the smoldering phase before open flames appear and spread rapidly.”
“Ultra-early detection is a prerequisite for autonomous suppression. Drones can suppress a small ignition, but their limited payload makes them largely ineffective once a wildfire has grown out of control. Silvanet detects the fire when it is still tiny, and Silvaguard can verify, locate and suppress it autonomously,” Brinkschulte said.
Dryad XPRIZE Wildfire system
Silvanet uses solar-powered, AI-enabled gas sensors that act as an “electronic nose,” identifying wildfire signatures within minutes of ignition. Because the sensors form a solar-powered mesh network, they can communicate deep inside forests, off-grid and independent of mobile networks. Dryad has already manufactured more than 40,000 sensors, including recent deliveries of 10,000 to France and more than 7,000 to Italy.
Silvaguard, meanwhile, extends Silvanet from detection into autonomous response. When a sensor triggers an alert, an Observation Drone launches automatically, then verifies and geolocates the fire with infrared and optical cameras. Next, a Suppression Drone deploys up to 100 liters (about 26 gallons) of suppressant. Both aircraft operate with no human operator in the loop, and Dryad designed them to sit in solar-powered protective hangars in forests, continuously charged and ready to respond.
Path to commercial availability
Following the award, Dryad plans significant investment in productizing Silvaguard. Operational pilots are planned for 2027, with commercial availability targeted for 2028.
“Wildfires are a race against time,” Brinkschulte said. “Instead of building bigger machines to fight bigger fires, our goal is to prevent fires from becoming big in the first place. XPRIZE has provided powerful validation that autonomous wildfire response can make that vision a reality.”
XPRIZE Wildfire now moves into an Impact Phase focused on turning promising technologies into durable, deployable solutions for real-world wildfire management.
More information is available at Dryad Networks.
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