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24 January 2025
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Technology: Airbus tests new kit allowing A400M airlifter to fight fires
European aerospace group Airbus (AIR.PA), is testing in Spain removable kit that can transform an A400M military transport aircraft into a plane to combat wildfires, as the world faces more virulent fires due to climate change. The tests in El Cubillo de Uceda, 69km from Madrid, aim to confirm the kit's efficiency when indirectly attacking wildfires, Airbus said.
The A400M’s potential for use as an aerial firefighting asset has been put to the test, with Airbus conducting an initial demonstration campaign in collaboration with the Spanish Air Force.
The kit, consisting of a tank and two discharge pipes installed in the cargo hold and ramp, can be added to any of the over 100 A400M transport aircraft already flying, so they can complement the job of fire brigades. "You can convert the A400M into an aerial firefighting aircraft quickly, installing this kit in around 2-3 hours and then you have the capability ready," Sara Vargas, project manager at Airbus Defence and Space, said.
The equipped airlifter can drop 20 tons of water or retardant onto the blaze, helping cut off large wildfires that aren't easily extinguishable. "The advantage is that this aircraft can fly slow and low and is able, with its manoeuvrability, to do this operation with a very high standard of safety," Vargas added.
Assessments of a firefighting demonstrator kit have been conducted using a development aircraft in daylight conditions, Airbus Defence and Space says. These have included performing drops of up to 20t of water from a minimum operating height of 150ft and at just 125kt (231km/h). “The main objective of the campaign is to validate the drop water quantity and time as well as the ability of the A400M to carry out this new role with the kit,” the company says.
No permanent airframe modifications are required to allow the Atlas to conduct the activity. Instead, the aircraft is equipped with a roll-on/roll-off kit including a cargo hold water tank. From this, two “flood pipes” are positioned, enabling its load to be expelled from the end of the cargo ramp within less than 10s.
“The development of this prototype and the tests have been carried out in close collaboration with the 43rd Group of the Spanish Air Force, as well as European authorities in firefighting operations and the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge,” says Airbus Defence and Space.
“In addition to the development of the production version of this kit, Airbus will analyse this operation also in night time conditions,” it says. “We strongly believe the A400M can play a vital role in the fight against the ever increasing threat posed by wildfires,” says Airbus Defence and Space chief executive Mike Schoellhorn.
Airbus says it has so far delivered 109 A400Ms, with the tactical transport in operational use for eight nations: Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Spain, Turkey and the UK.
Scientists say that while most fires are started by humans, hot and dry conditions driven by climate change help them spread more quickly, burn longer and more intensely.
Environment Ministry official Alvaro Jimenez told a panel on wildfire management in Madrid that heatwaves, lack of rain and an increase in fuel brought about by dwindling rural activity were changing fire conditions.
Source: Flight Global, Reuters
The A400M’s potential for use as an aerial firefighting asset has been put to the test, with Airbus conducting an initial demonstration campaign in collaboration with the Spanish Air Force.
The kit, consisting of a tank and two discharge pipes installed in the cargo hold and ramp, can be added to any of the over 100 A400M transport aircraft already flying, so they can complement the job of fire brigades. "You can convert the A400M into an aerial firefighting aircraft quickly, installing this kit in around 2-3 hours and then you have the capability ready," Sara Vargas, project manager at Airbus Defence and Space, said.
The equipped airlifter can drop 20 tons of water or retardant onto the blaze, helping cut off large wildfires that aren't easily extinguishable. "The advantage is that this aircraft can fly slow and low and is able, with its manoeuvrability, to do this operation with a very high standard of safety," Vargas added.
Assessments of a firefighting demonstrator kit have been conducted using a development aircraft in daylight conditions, Airbus Defence and Space says. These have included performing drops of up to 20t of water from a minimum operating height of 150ft and at just 125kt (231km/h). “The main objective of the campaign is to validate the drop water quantity and time as well as the ability of the A400M to carry out this new role with the kit,” the company says.
No permanent airframe modifications are required to allow the Atlas to conduct the activity. Instead, the aircraft is equipped with a roll-on/roll-off kit including a cargo hold water tank. From this, two “flood pipes” are positioned, enabling its load to be expelled from the end of the cargo ramp within less than 10s.
“The development of this prototype and the tests have been carried out in close collaboration with the 43rd Group of the Spanish Air Force, as well as European authorities in firefighting operations and the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge,” says Airbus Defence and Space.
“In addition to the development of the production version of this kit, Airbus will analyse this operation also in night time conditions,” it says. “We strongly believe the A400M can play a vital role in the fight against the ever increasing threat posed by wildfires,” says Airbus Defence and Space chief executive Mike Schoellhorn.
Airbus says it has so far delivered 109 A400Ms, with the tactical transport in operational use for eight nations: Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Spain, Turkey and the UK.
Scientists say that while most fires are started by humans, hot and dry conditions driven by climate change help them spread more quickly, burn longer and more intensely.
Environment Ministry official Alvaro Jimenez told a panel on wildfire management in Madrid that heatwaves, lack of rain and an increase in fuel brought about by dwindling rural activity were changing fire conditions.
Source: Flight Global, Reuters