The Portuguese Air Force has four new helicopters that will be dedicated to the mission of fighting rural fires.
In a ceremony presided over by the Prime Minister , António Costa, which took place last Wednesday at Manabra No. 1 Airbase as part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The two AW119 Koala helicopters join the existing fleet of Squadron 552 – “Zangões”, and these two will be permanently dedicated to the mission of fighting rural fires, through surveillance and projection of forces on the ground.
As for the UH-60 Black Hawk, they are intended for aerial combat and the projection of forces on the ground, and will be based at AM1 , soon transformed into Air Base No. 8. These two helicopters are the first of a total of six, with the fleet expected to be complete by 2026.
As this is a mission that requires extreme experience, by 2026 the Air Force crews responsible for operating the UH-60 Black Hawk will undergo a very rigorous phase of training in order to build capacity with all safety conditions. .
During the presentation ceremony of the two aircraft, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General João Cartaxo Alves, highlighted the moment as being of enormous importance for the Air Force and for the country as it marks “the beginning of the construction of its own capacity of the State in what was a national purpose supported by the Portuguese in the field of aerial combat against rural fires”.
It is recalled that in 2018, the Portuguese Government transferred the State’s own resources for the firefighting mission to the management of the Air Force. These four helicopters are the first of 11 to be operated by the Air Force, namely two AW119 Koala , six UH-60 Black Hawk and three more that will be the subject of an acquisition competition to be launched soon.
The UH-60 Black Hawk is a medium-sized, twin-engine utility helicopter. Its basic crew consists of two pilots, carries up to 12 passengers in the cabin and has a starting capacity of 2950L of water. With a flight time of 2h30, it has a range of 555 km and reaches a maximum speed of 314 km/h.
In turn, the AW119 Koala is an extremely versatile single-engine helicopter, fulfilling a very wide range of missions, such as: patrolling and observation in support of fighting rural fires, basic and advanced flight instruction, search and rescue and sanitary evacuations. It has the capacity to transport up to seven passengers (in addition to the pilot), a stretcher and five passengers, or even 1400 kg of suspended load.
