The enormous destruction caused by the fires in Greece (and this is only in June) is understandable. Aerial firefighting, which is the main driving force in the fight against fires, is characterized, especially this year, by a triptych: insufficient quality aerial means, poor planning, insufficient resources.
Even improving early warning with the help of drones applies only to Attica! As if the rest of Greece doesn't need early warning at the county levelor there are some special costs for the delivery of drones and the transmission of data to the coordination center.
To all this we must add what we have warned about, repeatedly reporting on this in previous years, but of course, the favorite topic for officials is kickbacks. And he declares that it will be impossible to deliver if an order is placed. less than 24 aircraft! And we requested (through “interstate agreements” and other nonsense that simply legitimizes kickbacks) only 7! The rest must be ordered from other countries EUwhich have not yet responded in any way, as well as the European Commission, which will finance part of the supplies.
350 million euros have been allocated for these 7 CL-515 aircraft, while the real cost of the purchase will be almost 800 million euros! The above about the impossibility of fulfilling the order is not theoretical, but, as authoritative sources in ΓΕΑ reported to pronews.gr the Canadian manufacturer does not have a production line, and to open it, it is necessary to receive a signed contract for an order of more than 20 aircraft, namely 24!
But even if that happens (and it won't unless Viking gets orders from other countries), Deliveries will begin in… five years. 2024 has already passed, 2025, to start building them, we need to get 17 orders in the first half of the year! So if all goes well, we are planning the first delivery in 2030!!!
But until that time, only columns of wind turbines will remain in Greece! This raises the question of other aircraft. The CL-215/-415 are once again doing “what they can” with all the attendant risks and human errors due to the enormous fatigue of the crew. As for other aircraft, McDermott Aviation's Bell 214ST helicopters and PZL's successor, the Air Tractor AT-802, are performing literally inadequately.
McDermott Aviation Bell 214ST helicopters are 100% to blame for the planning of the Ministry of Civil Defense, which in the AIGIS program “found a trough”, to put it elegantly, and “no helicopter is bought without a kickback”: they took a helicopter that is a transport helicopter and use it for firefighting!
It is understandable that they need helicopters capable of transporting forest firefighters, but when ALL helicopters are transporting 10 (+2 crew) forest firefighters, it is a huge loss for the simple reason that Less than 20% of missions transport wildland firefightersand only when it comes to steep sections. Such a helicopter can easily transport people, but fighting fires with the confidence that the pilots will not get trapped, will not burn alive and will return safely to their bases – that is a difficult task! For this reason, missions with forest firefighters are limited.
How much water do they actually carry? Two tons max! Under certain weather conditions, because they're getting it from a hose! How much water is hitting the fire? From the heights they're pouring, very little! Maybe none at all! What worked until last year? Buckets and 4-plus tons of water from Eastern helicopters and Army Air Force CH-47Ds. This year only 5 of the first ones were rented, and the second ones were taken out of service due to lack of spare parts!
Now let's get back to the ill-fated Air Tractor.
These are nothing more than old Polish PZL, that is, sprayers that were converted into firefighting aircraftand the Greek people paid millions out of their pockets, which ended up in the pockets of the scammers! There are currently 16 Air Tractor AT-802 in Greece, and 4 of them are on wheels. This means that these four must land at the airport and take water from the tap! These aircraft carry only half the water that the CL-415 can carry.
Besides, the Air Tractor AT 802 is a rather slow aircraft, with a maximum speed of 350 km/h. And when there is a strong wind, as there was last Saturday, they simply cannot fly out to put out a fire! But the rule is that when there is a strong wind, fires flare up and become gigantic, which means that this is when the need for firefighting aircraft is greatest!
The Air Tractor only carries 2 tons of water, while the CL-415 carries more than six, the Be-200 (the Russian “beast” that put out fires and saved Tatoi Airport before the Waribobi Fire burned it down in 2021) carries 12 tons, and another Russian “beast” the Il-76 carries more than 36 tons!
And so, instead of acquiring real firefighting aircraft, the government decided to look for solutions in a helicopter, which is practically incapable of putting out even… a barbecue.
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