France’s fleet is as follows: 12 Canadair CL 415, 8 Dash Q400 planes and 3 Beechcraft King 200 planes, to which must be added 37 helicopters.
A parliamentary report, published on July 2, noted that this fleet “Is no longer adapted to the missions faced by civil security, due in particular to the intensification of the risk of fire under the effect of climate change. If aircraft rental is a useful extra solution in order to guarantee the availability of devices, especially during the fire season, it cannot replace the acquisition of its own planes and helicopters. “
Is notably pointed out the aging of the devices. “The most critical situation is that of Canadair, whose average age is 30 years now. Their intensive exploitation, especially at sea (…) makes it necessary to work in operational condition (…). In general, Canadair is based on an initial architecture which dates from the 1960s and which no longer seems adapted to the current issues and difficulties in the fight against fires, more frequent and more intense ”. As for the two Dash of “MR” version – six others are in a modernized version “MRBET” -, “Having an average age of 20, [ils] will arrive at the end of his life around 2035-2040s ”. For the three Beechcrafts, “Their average age of 45 makes it necessary to replace these devices rapidly.”
In July 2022, after the fires that had devastated 32,000 hectares in the Landes of Gascogne Massif, Emmanuel Macron had promised an next order from 16 Canadair which were to be delivered by 2028, but the announcement was never translated into the acts. Also, due to a stroke of a plane of 53 million euros, two Canadair were ordered instead of four, under the Attal government.
On the occasion of a group purchase, on the initiative of the European Union, six member states, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Croatia, ordered, during the Bourget fair, from 22 new generation.
To find out more, here is an article by Aline Leclerc and Guy Dutheil, journalists in the Economy Service of the Monde :
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