Brussels backs Portugal to buy two Canadair planes to avoid 2017-like fires

The European Commission hopes that the two firefighting planes that Portugal will officially purchase this Thursday for 100 million euros in community funds will help strengthen its fleet and avoid forest fires like those that occurred in 2017.

The agreement in question is one that will be formalised this Thursday by the executive power for the purchase of two heavy fire-fighting bombers that will be based in Portugal and will form part of the European Union (EU) strategic civil protection reserve, 12 aircraft in total, financed by Brussels with a total budget of 600 million euros (for Portugal, Spain, France, Greece, Italy and Croatia).

“It all goes back to Portugal in 2017, when there were very large fires in which about 100 people died, and when it became clear that we did not have enough capacity in Europe,” Janez Lenarčič, the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, told the Lusa news agency in Brussels.

Citing forest fires in the country in June and October 2017 that killed more than 100 people and burned 500,000, it could not count on support from other member states due to a lack of resources.

For this reason, the European Commission has since invested in forest fire preparedness and, after the necessary negotiations between EU legislators (since civil protection is a national competence), has been in talks with the Canadian manufacturer Canadair, which was recently concluded with the aim of strengthening the fleet of Europe and the “most vulnerable” countries.

“With signatures [entre os governos destes seis países e a empresa] which we hope will happen this year, we must complete this process. […] Two Member States have already signed contracts of this type in March, Greece and Croatia, and we hope that Portugal will do so. […] and that soon Spain, Italy and France will also do the same to start production,” says Janez Lenarčič Luse.

The budget for the acquisition of 12 new firefighting aircraft, which will be distributed from 2027 to six EU Member States, including Portugal, is €600 million.

The idea is precisely that the 12 aircraft would enhance the aerial firefighting capabilities of the EU’s strategic reserve, with the European Commissioner referring to medium amphibious aircraft that are “popular in Mediterranean countries” because they allow water supplies to be replenished at sea, in lakes or rivers.

“If you had to go to the airport to refuel, it would take much longer, and time and speed are critical when fighting forest fires,” says Janez Lenarcic, referring to airplanes, which are “the best possible option” because these countries are “never far from the sea or another body of water.”

The first aircraft is expected to take another three years to build, meaning it won’t arrive until 2027.

Janez Lenarcic told Luce that although the two aircraft are based in Portugal (their maintenance and parking is the responsibility of the Portuguese state), they can be mobilized to other EU countries as they are part of the European reserve, and the same applies to the holidays.

This Thursday morning, at the Aviation Museum in Sintra, in the presence of the Minister of National Defense Nuno Melo and the Minister of the Interior of Margarida, the signing of the contract for the acquisition of two heavy bombers DHC-515 from Canadair will take place. Blasco, as well as the Chief of Staff of the Air Force João Cartaxo Alves.