France will gradually renew its water bombers

By: Wording OD.

The Canadair still have a flight potential of a decade, but the Tracker are burnt. A tender has been launched.

New operational base, but also new aircraft come: Civil Security will experience an at least partial replacement of its fleet of water bombers, according to this plan a stalled after several years of reflection. Regarding the famous Canadair, the only amphibious aircraft of this type in the Western world, France still has a little room: it uses the second generation of Canadian yellow and red aircraft (CL-415), the eldest was twenty in 2015; the need to renew therefore should not occur before ten years despite frequent trips abroad in the framework of cooperation with other countries.

But for their neighbors tarmac Marignane, nine Tracker involved especially the departures of fire by dropping 3,200 gallons of retardant, disposal is close: "The Tracker S2F have fifty-eight middle-aged and will be gradually withdrawn from service between 2018 and 2022, due to reaching the life limit of cells (25,000 flight hours, Ed), "says the" echoes "the prefect Laurent Prevost, Director General of civil Security and crisis management. "The chosen direction is to replace primarily by multirole aircraft, supplemented, if necessary, by amphibious aircraft," he added.

Derivatives of a former US air anti-submarine warfare (the Grumman S-2 flew in 1952), the tricolor Tracker were used threadbare. These high-wing turboprop purchased once used were to retire in 2008, but have been revised in depth to hold up today. Meanwhile, France has tested several solutions ranging from very small (the Air Tractor, a frail trapanelle manufactured in Texas, originally used in crop spraying) to very large (the Beriev Be-200 amphibious jet Russian, capable of pulling 43 tons at takeoff). These alternatives were rows shelved in favor of multirole aircraft, able to always fight against fires, but also to bring in peak season freight or men more varied rescue, requested to civil security.

Airbus in preparation

Characteristics that stick to those of the Canadian Bombardier Dash 8, which France already operates two copies (carrying 10,000 liters of retardant in the hold), or those of an Airbus model, which has already been tested by pilots Marignane, the C-295: a military transport aircraft that currently wants European drift water bomber with a Canadian partner, Coulson. A notice of public solicitation was sent to the "Official Journal" on July 12, and the notification of the contract is scheduled for early 2017.

"The government has decided, as part of the security pact adopted following the attacks of 13 November, to accelerate the renewal of the fleet, by providing the necessary funding in 2017 for the acquisition of a first flight," adds Laurent Prévost, who refuses to specify the total amount of the envelope.

Regarding the "amphibious component," the market was not launched at this stage French side, especially as the future of CL-415 Canadair remains a real question mark, since the recent acquisition of manufacturing rights Viking Canada (see cons below): "We have not, to date, accurate information about the intentions of the purchaser regarding a possible reopening of the production line. Once the transaction is finalized, we hope to have a dialogue with Viking, on this point, with the other European countries operating Canadair "adds this close to the interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve.

As more and more decisions are several, between neighbors. The European Civil Protection Mechanism, which allows the exchange of air or terrestrial means if necessary, has been activated more than 30 times since 2012, including to the Nordic countries poorly equipped like Sweden, Norway and Finland. In addition, France has taken the initiative in April to bring together six European countries operating Canadair, "to strengthen operational cooperation, and to initiate a strategic discussion on the renewal of our fleet," said Laurent Prevost . Meanwhile, the European Commission, Morocco and Turkey have joined this working group.

Source:Les Echos/France

Translated, revised and all photos by Yam Wanders.