Eurocopter develops new means to perform fire-fighting missions

Positive Assessment of the EC 725/EC225 in Water Bomber Configuration after a Ten-Week Operation in Corsica

From 2 July to 7 September 2007, an EC725 from the French Air Force was evaluated for its capacities during aerial fire-fighting missions. During a joint experiment between Eurocopter and the Ministry of Interior (Direction de Sécurité Civile), the helicopter was operated by Eurocopter’s flight test team and customer support department, who were responsible for the helicopter. It was stationed at Bastia-Poretta airport, a strategic point from which it could be deployed anywhere on the island of Corsica. All equipment serving a purely military purpose (weaponry, optronic turret, countermeasures, etc.) was removed from the aircraft, which then corresponded to an EC225 configuration. The aircraft was hence fitted with a fire-fighting system developed by Eurocopter which consists of a flexible 4000-litre tank attached to the floor of the cabin and a scoop and water jettison kit. The entire system located in the cabin can be assembled and dismantled in less than twenty minutes, thus ensuring the helicopter’s use in a waterbomber version or in a transport/medical evacuation version.

The trials in Corsica began with the exploration of the helicopter’s flight envelope when equipped with the fire-fighting system, thus allowing the EC 225 to be engaged on different forest fire sites. After this initial phase which lasted for the whole month of July, the trials moved on to the operational evaluation phase in the beginning of August. The second phase, during which the helicopter was fully integrated as part of the Sécurité Civile’s air operations alongside the water bomber airplanes, served as a test of the helicopter’s flight behaviour in a water bomber configuration under real-life conditions.

Throughout the trials, the EC225 consistently demonstrated flight characteristics that qualify the helicopter as a unique and useful fire-fighting platform: by dropping water from a lower altitude and at a lower speed than a fixed-wing aircraft, it can target a fire with greater precision, especially in mountainous terrain. Furthermore, its ability to pump water onboard in hover mode enables the helicopter to make use of water supply points in close proximity of the disaster area. Even though the pumping of water from the sea, lake or watercourse remains an extremely delicate operation, it is nevertheless facilitated by the helicopter’s enormous power capacity.

In the course of ten weeks of operations, the helicopter carried out 23 fire-fighting interventions, excluding the numerous “armed patrol flights” during which it flew in firewatch mode, ready to intervene against any nascent fire. In total, over the course of these 23 direct interventions, the aircraft executed 310 drops of water, delivering a total of a little over 1000 metric tons of water, and refilled its tank with seawater more than 80 times. This positive assessment shows the efficiency of the fire-fighting system used during the trials. The system is currently being certified and the first deliveries of the helicopter equipped with these kits will take place in 2008.

It should be noted that the operation, originally scheduled to end on 31 August, was extended for another week, during which several Canadair CL415 belonging to the Sécurité Civile were sent to Greece to reinforce the aerial fire-fighting missions against the violent conflagrations which were raging in the country.

The trials in Corsica have proved that the helicopter water bomber - in the hands of an expert crew - is an unique tool when fire fighting in a diverse range of geographical environments, thanks to its ability to fly around the terrains; and have also shown that the helicopter water bomber is a complementary means to the water bomber airplanes.

Established in 1992, the Franco-German-Spanish Eurocopter Group is a Division of EADS, a world leader in aerospace, defence and related services. The Eurocopter Group employs approx. 14,000 people. In 2006, Eurocopter confirmed its position as the world’s no. 1 helicopter manufacturer with a turnover of 3.8 billion euros, orders for 615 new helicopters, and a 52% percent market share in the civil and parapublic sectors. Overall, the Group’s products account for 30% percent of the total world helicopter fleet. Its strong worldwide presence is ensured by its 17 subsidiaries on five continents, along with a dense network of distributors, certified agents and maintenance centres. More than 9,800 Eurocopter helicopters are currently in service with over 2,500 customers in 140 countries. Eurocopter offers the largest civil and military helicopter range in the world.

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