As Wildfire Activity Breaks Headlines, Industry Attunes to Market Potential

Airbus has begun flight testing its A400M Roll-on/Roll-off firefighting prototype kit, evaluating the plane's ability to drop 20,000 liters of retardant on lines over 400 meters long.

A 2-week test campaign throughout south-western Spain, saw the A400M run through its paces, completing 6 successful drops using a mix of retarded and water. The "roll-on/roll-off" nomenclature reminds customers that the aircraft requires no permanent modification for installation, allowing it to be used in an A400M fleet as necessary.

The payload is stored in the cargo hold like any other, evacuated via gravity out a discharge pipe aft of the plane. The mod isn't the quickest to refill compared to dedicated firefighting aircraft, however - the kit demands "less than 10 minutes" to refill the 20,000L tank back on the ground...using "standard high-pressure pumps", at least. In practice, the A400M's backcountry bonafides may make such arrangements somewhat scarce, when deep in the sticks. Dedicated fire tankers and their in-flight water refilling will always outperform an ad-hoc modification like this one, but it's a nifty option to have if a firefighting fleet is looking sparse ahead of a long, hot, and dry summer.

“We have tested a new version of the kit, improving dropping efficiency and reducing discharge time by over 30% compared to last year, while combined with rapid deployment and easy installation on the A400M aircraft,” said Jean-Brice Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems at Airbus Defence and Space. “We continue to pioneer new solutions and capabilities for our A400M fleet, in this case protecting populations and natural environments from fires.”

FMI: www.airbus.com