Water-bombing aircraft · Civil Protection
Dash 8 Q400MR: the heavyweight of fire-retardant aircraft
Code Milan : 10,000 litres in the fuel tank, a top speed of 667 km/h, and the fleet’s most strategic mission — Armed Air Patrol. The former airliner has become the centrepiece of the firebreak defences.
Key points
- 8 Dash 8 Q400MRs based in Nîmes-Garons, call sign ‘Milan’.
- 10,000 litres water or fire retardant by air drop — the Civil Protection’s largest payload capacity prior to the A400M.
- Twice as fast as a Canadair : Bordeaux is just an hour’s journey from Nîmes, the whole city within easy reach.
- A mainstay of the Armed Aerial Surveillance : to patrol whilst armed, ready to drop its payload within minutes of detection.
- Multi-role : 64 passengers or 9 tonnes of cargo, excluding fire-fighting operations — medical evacuations, logistical missions.
From passenger aircraft to fire-fighting aircraft
The Q400 is, first and foremost, a regional turboprop aircraft manufactured by Bombardier/De Havilland and operated by airlines around the world. Its exceptional speed for a turboprop and its robustness inspired the Canadian Conair, a global specialist in converting civil aircraft into water-bombing aircraft: belly tank, constant-flow drop system, structural reinforcements. France, the concept’s first military and civil emergency services customer, is putting its first Q400MR into service in 2005 — and expanded the fleet to eight aircraft between 2019 and 2023 to replace the long-serving Trackers.
Maiden flight of the Q400, the latest addition to Bombardier’s Dash 8 family.
The French Civil Protection Agency has taken delivery of its first Q400MR, converted by Conair — a world first for this model.
An order for six additional aircraft to replace the Trackers, which are being withdrawn after 60 years of service.
The fleet now comprises eight Milan aircraft, all based at Nîmes-Garons.
The Milan missiles are firing GAArs and delay flares in rapid succession across a wide front — the south-east, south-west and the Loire Valley.
The chemical weapon (in the true sense of the word): the retardant
Unlike the Canadair, which mainly drops water, the Milan excels at retardant product : a mixture based on ammonium polyphosphates, coloured red to mark the treated areas, which delays the burning of vegetation even once it is dry. Dropped ahead of the fire front, it creates a chemical barrier several hundred metres wide which the fire struggles to cross — giving the ground-based assets to settle down.
Recharging is carried out at one of the 22 pelican-dromers French: stations equipped with tanks and high-flow pumps, spread across airfields in the south and beyond, where the aircraft can refuel its 10,000 litres in around ten minutes. This is the opposite approach to that of the Canadair: fewer sorties, but larger-scale drops further from the coast.
Armed Aerial Surveillance: taking the initiative rather than reacting
Milan’s flagship initiative: days classified as ‘very high risk’ by the Forest weather, Dash already loaded patrol the skies above areas at risk of wildfire. As soon as smoke is detected — by a lookout, a camera or a member of the public calling 112 — the aircraft is on the scene within minutes and tackles the nascent fire before it gains momentum.
This doctrine oflarge-scale attack on emerging fires explains an apparent paradox: in summers when everything goes well, the Milan birds fly a great deal… yet there are no spectacular images. The fire that isn’t shown on the 8 pm news is precisely the one that the GAAr put out, covering 5 hectares.
A Swiss Army knife called ‘MR’
MR as multi-role : outside the fire season, the firebox is emptied and the cabin is raised — up to 64 passengers or 9 tonnes of cargo. The Civil Protection Service uses its Milan helicopters for medical evacuations, deploying rescue teams following disasters, or transporting equipment to overseas territories. An investment that pays for itself all year round.
Detailed technical specifications
| Bodywork manufacturer | Bombardier / De Havilland Canada |
|---|---|
| Conversion of a water bomber | Conair (Canada) |
| Commissioning in France | 2005 |
| Crew | 2 drivers |
| Length | 32.8 m |
| Wingspan | 28.4 m |
| Engine | 2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A turboprop engines |
| Cruising speed | ≈ 560 km/h |
| Maximum speed | ≈ 667 km/h |
| Drop capacity | 10,000 litres of water or fire retardant |
| Drop system | Constant-flow underfloor air duct (Conair), 2-door |
| Drop height | ≈ 40 m above ground level |
| Drop rate | ≈ 230 km/h |
| Transport capacity | Up to 64 passengers or ≈ 9 t of cargo |
| Radio call sign | Milan |
Milan, Pélican, Atlas: who does what?
Dash 8 Q400MR ‘Milan’
- 10,000 litres of water or delaying
- 667 km/h — the whole of France within reach
- Charges in 10 minutes across 22 Pelicandromes
- Flagship project: GAAr and support lines
Canadair CL-415 & A400M
- Canadair: 6,137 litres scooped up in 12 seconds – the king of the coastline
- A400M: 20,000 litres in a single flight, military crisis support
- Milan bridges the gap between the two: massive and reactive
Frequently Asked Questions about the Dash 8
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Aircraft and helicopters in the air, active fires, today’s alerts: the real-time maps on the Forest Fires website link each page in this section to the situation on the ground. And if you witness a fire breaking out, call 112 first and foremost.