Kamov KA-32A on standby at Loulé heliport in Portugal. Photo by Bill Gabbert.Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in the Republic of Cyprus having difficulty in contracting for firefighting helicopters.
During the past two years the government’s Forestry Department has leased two Russian-owned Kamov Ka-27 helicopters, but the sanctions against Russia imposed by the European Union mean that source is not available for the coming wildfire season. The only bid submitted did not meet the criteria.
The helicopters had been based at Paphos Airport.
The Forestry Department is working with the Tender Board to possibly negotiate with another vendor that had previously showed interest. In the meantime the agency is working toward the purchase of two helicopters.
In July of 2021 Cyprus suffered their deadliest wildfire in decades. Pushed by strong winds, it swept through the southern foothills of the Troodos mountain range during a severe heat wave. The blaze killed four Egyptian workers, destroyed 50 homes, damaged farms and power lines, and forced the evacuation of 10 villages. Greece and Israel each deployed two aircraft, one helicopter came from a nearby UK base, and Cyprus had 11 of their own aircraft working on the fire.
14 Comments
They need more of that 747 and the quick strike force in their life
Apparently, there was enough “hatred” over the 747 and coverage levels and everyone knowing more about the 747 than the pilots and mechanics that there was more money to be made running freight than worrying about the cup test. Sorry to offend, but the way the season is shaping up…….one gets the idea…..and i get it, the last few days……no iron is flying until the winds die down
The 74 is still around and might make it to the European market, yet after the demo in Haifa, Israel a few years back
Different countries, different ways of contracts requirements, and maybe less bureaucracy when the needs arise.
The 74 isn’t dead yet, like the rest of the turbofan, turbojet fleet………but like everyone in the aviation industry has said……..banks don’t care about bureaucracy and coverage levels….they care if their investment is burnin kerosene, JP4/ JETA or JP8 making money not standing still “6 months” out of the year!
Let me get this straight… you saying the 747 failed a urinalysis?
Considering the Fed wasted money on the 10 year retardant study and wasted money running CWN contracts for fixed and rotor wing; what’s a lil more money for the 747? It puts out lots of political smoke. That’s what people care about. But what do I know… I’m busy showing a dinner break on my CTR…. I’m just saving up for a golf cart to roll to briefings in and Impress these steely eyed killers at helibase.
LOLOLOLOL…dinner break….I heard about that a few years back
Nonetheless….the 747 is making money elsewhere to probably include Gov contracts….
That thar 1995 study ( which i have at my JETA laden fingertips) titled…National Study of Airtankers to Support IA and Large Fire Suppression Final Report Phase I was about like that 10 yr AFUE study…to establish a 40 + airtanker available for contract. So since 1995 LMA have gotten rid of recip engines and figure the 747 wasn’t good enough in coverage levels… it was a rather good history if nothing else for 1995.
Can’t have it both ways….try to establish studies for a 40-48 available contracted airtankers and then get rid of whats available for retrofit ‘cuz there is no purpose built airtankers unless folks are talkin Scoopers
Hey, but when showing meal breaks is more important …we can all get the 💡
During the pandemic, air freight began at three dollars a kilogram, and became twenty seven dollars a kilogram. Whatever the 747 might have hoped to make sitting on a contract, especially if used CWN without guarantee, it’s hard to compete with a hear of moving freight at a 900% markup, with the aircraft moving around the clock.
Altruistics aside, the 747 as a material asset is about money, not idealism. If an asset can pay for itself, all good and well, but as a tanker, it couldn’t, and people who invested their money felt so. An airplane that can pay for itself, many times over, moving freight, is far more palatable to an owner or investor than an airplane which stands for a grand ideal, but only consumes money.
The 747-400 had utility left within, and a potential future outside of fire. The former 747-200, a gallant effort by Evergreen a few years prior, I last saw at JFK airport on a back ramp area, stuffed with office furniture and abandoned, after Evergreen was evicted from its facilities. It had no future, and in fact, no place to go. That’s a sad sight. It was there because its future as an air tanker was more bleak than even the -400. The 747 as a tanker isn’t a new concept, nor was it a one-time effort. It’s not been a very successful one, and one can’t say it puts out political fires: it creates them. If it did put out the fires of popular opinion, it would be employed doing just that, and is not.
Scoopers (CL415, etc), incidentally, are not the only purpose-built tankers. There’s an expansive fleet of Type IV tankers out there built from the ground up as tankers, designed around the tank and drop system, and operated as SEATs.
Yeah ..I forgot to mention/ remember SEATs…the LAT world, not so much
Should have remembered that
Another purpose-built is the amphibious Be-200.
Plenty of gravy out there for Big helicopter vendors in the US tired of BOI contracting shop antics… I can see a fleet of 47s and 60s posted up in container ships headed east right now…
So easy to blame the contracting office…too bad you don’t know where the real problem lies…it all starts at FAM…they are responsible for the development of the statement of work.. not the contracting office…so if there is something you don’t like in the new requirement I suggest you call the man in charge Paul Linse…the problem starts there not the contracting shop
Oh snaps…. Looks like I caught a fly…. Probably pretty unprofessional of you to use the name of current overhead… but shows the nerve has been hit. I talk that talk… SOW issues are a story old as time… it’s on contracting to coordinate and work with the SOW authors to make it work. Contracting loves to drop the ball on deadlines and amend and or terminate contracts at the Govt convenience. The blame goes both ways; but sometimes it’s like that Teddy Roosevelt speech, The Man in the Arena. You know what I’m saying. Todd.
Well your last comment shows you do not understand contracting..it is not the responsibility of contracting to get the SOW right.. that is on the end user….the contracting shop responsibly is to ensure the SOW is legally sufficient…the main problem is aviation has had their hand held for so long they don’t want to do the work….by the way since I am retired I no longer need to worry about professionalism…maybe I should just start releasing all the unprofessional actions that your folks have done…would make for a good article…stop blaming the contracting shop and start taking responsibility for your requirements…so to confirm you didn’t hit a nerve and I also will talk the talk and walk the walk..yes it’s Todd with 21 years of contracting experience and 11 years of aviation contracting experience watching aviation pull some unethical crap…so please stop playing the victim
Entertaining, listening to office guttersnipe comparing paper anatomy, but given that this is an article about aircraft in Cyprus, what you think you know about paperwork in the US is…irrelevant.
You do understand that this doesn’t involve US contracting practices for domestic services, correct?
Wait… you mean Cyprus doesn’t have to bow down to NIFIC? Shocked. Shocked I say! I think the comment made implied vendors unhappy with US business could head overseas…
Vendors may be less than delighted with foreign operations and the cost of doing business, balanced against what is paid for firefighting aircraft.
There may just be a reason that Russian aircraft have been used for these positions, and not US vendors looking to cash in on the big bucks.
Add to that the difficulty of operating N-registered aircraft with US pilots in those locations, ongoing changing Covid restrictions, logistics of parts and other expenses, and long distance support, and its not the sterling opportunity some might think.
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