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| The EC 725 is the largest helicopter developped by Eurocopter. After conclusive test trials led in the past years, French Air Force EC 725s will augment the firefighting capacities of the Sécurité Civile fleet in 2007. This machine sports different names: Super Puma, Cougar (in French Army service) or Caracal (in French AF service). © Eurocopter |
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A French AF EC 725 Caracal to participate in Corsica's 2007 firefighting campaign
By Jean-Michel Guhl
in Paris, France
Following the dramatic fire season of 2003 which saw thousands of forest acres going out in flamme, and in order to reinforce the French governmental firefighting forces operated along the Riviera and in Corsica, the French Interior Ministry experimented the use of heavy helicopters. In 2004 a Russian Mil Mi-26 heavy helicopter thus added a large water- carrying capacity to the French firemen capabilities while several SA 330 Pumas, taken from the French Army EAALAT training school in Le Luc, were diverted to be used as cargoes to carry firefighters or heavy external loads on mountain ridges or in remote places out of reach to anything but helicopters.
In 2007, after acquiring its twelfth Canadair CL 415 and integrating two large Dash 8 water bombers in the Sécurité Civile fleet, the French Interior Ministry has taken the opportunity of pooling governmental aircraft resources in order to launch a new action plan for the coming firefighting season.
These trials will be conducted in partnership with the Interior Ministry's Civil Defense and Security Directorate and Eurocopter.
This July and next August with the permission of the French Defense Ministry, an EC 725 helicopter from EH 1/67 "Pyrénées" squadron will be stationed in Corsica, precisely in Bastia on the Northern tip of the island. Eurocopter will fit to this machine a water jettison kit with a capacity of 4 metric tons. EH 1/67 operates a mixed fleet of six EC 725 Caracals and six SA 330 Pumas.
In service in the French Air Force since May 2006, the EC 725 proved its reliability and operational capabilities that same year when it was deployed with success to Lebanon and Afghanistan, before being replaced during the summer of 2007 by EC 725 Cougars from the French Army.
The single EC 725 detached by Escadron d'Hélicoptères 1/67 will be operated by and under the responsibility of Eurocopter flight crews and assistance teams. Sécurité Civile representatives will monitor the trials. In the first phase, the flight crew will open up the flight envelope, testing the helicopter's flight behavior in its water bomber configuration. The second phase will evaluate the helicopter from an operational standpoint. During this phase, due to start on July 14th, the EC 725 will perform direct attacks on forest fires individually. The helicopter will then subsequently operate under the control of the Sécurité Civile's fires fighting HQ in Marseille.
In its water bomber configuration, the EC 725 can also be used to transport 8 to 10 firefighters in emergency situations or twenty or so firefighters in its transport configuration. The EC 725 will also be able to demonstrate its operational flexibility and its capability to get to the scene quickly, possibly highlighted by interventions in mainland France, if necessary.
The helicopter on loan to the Sécurité Civile will operate minus its military equipment. The operational evaluation by the Sécurité Civile will validate this new concept of a water bomber helicopter in real-life conditions. Compared to the Puma helicopter tried out for firefighting operations about 15 years ago, the EC 725 is a heavier 12-ton class new generation helicopter fitted with a flexible 4000-liter tank attached to the cabin floor, and jettison hatches underneath the fuselage. The inner part of the water bomber kit can be installed and removed in less than 20 minutes. The cargo load can be topped off on the ground or with the helicopter in hovering flight. If the trials prove satisfactory, the water bomber system could be certified by late 2007. [Paris - 07-03-2007]
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