Airbus Tests A400M Conversion for Wildfire Fighting
By Guillermo Martinez and Juan Medina
EL CUBILLO DE UCEDA, Spain (Reuters) - European aerospace group Airbus 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, 69 km (43 miles) from Madrid, aim to confirm the kit's efficiency when indirectly attacking wildfires, Airbus said.
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, told Reuters.
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.
Airbus is tapping its clients for potential buyers of the kit, hoping to see it in use within a couple of years.
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 on Wednesday that heatwaves, lack of rain and an increase in fuel brought about by dwindling rural activity were changing fire conditions.
(Writing by Emma Pinedo; Editing by David Latona and Mark Potter)
