Gérard Collomb, the Minister of the Interior, announced on Monday morning the purchase of six additional Bombardier Q400s in their fire-fighting configuration. He had announced this intention last summer during a visit to Corsica.
The French Government has just placed an order with Bombardier for six additional Q400 turboprop aircraft in the fire-fighting variant. The Civil Protection Service has been operating two of these aircraft since 2005. Capable of carrying 10 tonnes of fire-retardant agents, the Bombardier Q400 MRs are also used to transport passengers (64) and cargo (9 tonnes).
1,800 km at a speed of 600 km/h
According to a Senate information report, the device is "Capable of covering 1,800 km at a speed of 600 km/h, the Bombardier Q400 has a fuel range of three hours. This enables it to operate ‘in 90 per cent of high-risk areas in the Mediterranean’". The device can also cover "the whole of the south-west region" as it can reach Bordeaux in an hour (compared with two hours for the Canadair).
🖊️✈️ I made a commitment to this last summer, during the wildfires that affected our country: I have just signed off on the purchase of six multi-role aircraft for civil protection. ✅ We are renewing our air fleet to fight fires and deploy personnel and equipment. pic.twitter.com/LOqurlkGOv
— Gérard Collomb (@gerardcollomb) 15 January 2018
That leaves the question of its use in rugged terrain. If a terrain "Rougher terrain is not the Dash’s normal operating environment", as the Senate report acknowledges; the aircraft, with three hours’ worth of fuel "It can operate in hilly terrain with a pre-drop limit of 2.4 g, allowing for three sorties of 50 minutes each before refuelling. On the first sortie, it will be able to carry 6 tonnes of retardant (i.e. approximately 1 tonne more than the Fokker under the same mountainous terrain conditions). On the second sortie, it will be able to carry 7 tonnes of retardant and 8 tonnes on the third.".
6 tonnes of water in 12 seconds
Whilst the Canadair CL 415 water-bombing aircraft remain highly effective tools with "the ability to collect 6 tonnes of water in 12 seconds by skimming a stretch of water 1,500 metres long", the cost of maintaining them is very high. This explains the other comments made by the Minister for the Interior, Gérard Collomb, in Haute-Corse. "The fleet is currently sufficient in France" but must "to be interviewed when she returns to shore", he added. The Canadair CL 415s alone account for more than 60 per cent of the maintenance costs for the entire fleet.