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Brazil lent Colombia the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS II) from the Brazilian Air Force (FAB). The action is part of the country’s support for its Amazonian neighbor to face fires that have already devastated 18 thousand hectares of Colombian forests since November. The equipment was transported from Anápolis Air Base, in Goiás, to Galeão Air Base, in Rio de Janeiro, by a FAB KC-390 Millenium aircraft.
In Rio, the equipment was installed on a Hercules C-130 plane from the Colombian Air Force (FAC). MAFFS II has a capacity of 12 thousand liters of water or retardant and projects a flame-retardant charge through the side door in the fuselage – allowing the interior of the aircraft to be kept pressurized, that is, without compromising its performance . The system had already been used in Brazil against fires in the Amazon and the FAB had also used it in 2023, against fires in Chile.
Furthermore, the Colombian government hopes to be able to count on three Air Tractor AT-802 agricultural aircraft from the National Police in the coming days – which were used for applications against illegal coca crops and are now used to fight fires. Plus help from the Peruvian government, which also sent a firefighting system to the neighboring country to be installed in another FAC Hercules.
At the same time, the issue catches fire in the Colombian National Congress. Where the debate is about the accusation and that 40% of FAC aircraft would be out of service . This would have left many of the country’s firefighters and rescuers in the lurch – who were unable to reach the fire sites.
SOURCE: https://aerialfiremag.com/2024/02/14/colombia-recieves-help-from-brazil-for-aerial-firefighting/
