The multiplication of giant fires in France in recent weeks has revived the controversy over our means of action, and in particular the famous Canadair.
Several voices have denounced an insufficient fleet (12 planes), made up of old planes, some of which are undergoing maintenance.
The renewal of the Canadairs is a sea serpent. In 2019, a Senate report He recalled that two-thirds of devices are over 25 years old. It must be said that these planes are expensive to buy (between 20 and 30 million euros), to use (15,000 euros per hour of flight), not to mention regular maintenance given their use in extreme situations.
Emmanuel Macron concedes: “Yes, we need more Canadair […] We have to buy more, but do it at a European level.”
20 tons of water fell in 10 seconds
However, alternative and European solutions could emerge. Airbus has just successfully completed a flight test campaign in Spain for its A400M military aircraft equipped with a prototype detachable fire-fighting kit.
The device managed to throw up to 20 tons of water from the current tank in less than ten seconds, at a low height (45 meters) and low speed when a Canadair can only throw 6.
Technically, this firefighting solution comes in the form of a RORO (roll-on/roll-off) kit that requires no aircraft modification, making it fully compatible with any aircraft in the fleet. And this is its second advantage: the use of this solution makes it possible to easily and quickly transform the plane into a water bomber and thus intervene as quickly as possible.
The water is stored in a tank loaded in the hold and equipped with two independent outlets to which water pipes are connected which, when the drain is activated, expels the water in two sections of approximately half a square meter to the end of the rear ramp. . .
A kit that fits any aircraft in the fleet
“The main objective of this campaign was to validate the amount of water and the release time, as well as the ability of the aircraft to perform water bombing missions with this new kit,” explains the European aircraft manufacturer.
The development and testing of this firefighting demonstration kit has been carried out in close collaboration with the 43rd Squadron specialized in forest firefighting of the Spanish Air Force, the European firefighting authorities and the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge of Spain (MITECO).
In addition to the development of a production version of this kit, Airbus plans to test this type of mission in night conditions, in order to strengthen the aircraft’s capability and efficiency in this configuration.
Remember that France has 18 A400Ms and nearly 50 have been ordered.
Source: BFM TV
