The European Union (EU) is looking to purchase 12 new Canadair aircraft to increase the bloc’s aerial firefighting capacity
wpadmin 
The aircraft will be directly financed by the EU, but would be stationed in and legally owned by Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal – all Mediterranean countries which that have experienced intense wildfires this summer.
The planes are expected to be available for the 2027 forest fire season. Pilots to operate the aircraft will be provided by the host nations, while all other staff needed to deploy and maintain them will be paid for by the EU.
While the Canadairs will primarily serve the countries they are deployed in, they will also be available to support firefighting efforts in other EU member states via the bloc’s Civil Protection Mechanism, as part of the rescEU firefighting air fleet.
The 2023 rescEU fleet already includes 24 fixed-wing aircraft and four helicopters, supplied by 10 member states – already more than double the number of aircraft included as part of the 2022 fleet.
SOURCE: https://www.airmedandrescue.com/latest/news/eu-acquire-12-new-firefighting-planes
