During a press conference at the Ministry of National Defense in Lisbon, Nuno Melo announced the Cabinet’s decision to purchase two of the “most modern wildfire combat kits” to equip the Air Force’s C-130 aircraft. This acquisition will cost approximately 16 million euros. The government aims for these aircraft to become operational as soon as possible, although not within this year, due to the time required to apply the kits and train new teams for such missions.
“The fire kits, newly fitted on the C-130s, can carry a much larger amount of water, up to 12 tons, with significant or partial discharges at once, compared to helicopters, making them an important complementary equipment,” explained the minister.
In total, the country will have nine Black Hawk helicopters available for firefighting, expected to commence operation in 2026, as well as two Canadair water bombers scheduled for delivery to Portugal in 2030.
Responding to a newspaper report indicating that the Portuguese Air Force possesses 10 aircraft (three KC-390 planes and seven Koala helicopters) that could be used for fighting rural fires but are not equipped for this purpose due to the lack of kits, Melo clarified that these aircraft are designated for other functions. “KPC-390 has nothing to do with fire kits. In Brazil, for example, some are fitted with fire kits for completely different scenarios that do not match the Portuguese reality. Portugal and Brazil have different dimensions and natures, and for Portugal, the C-130s are much better prepared aircraft.”
Regarding the Koala helicopters, Nuno Melo stated that they are being used in fires for “transporting personnel, among other things,” and that “it is not accurate to say they are not being utilized.”
