“Today is the day we have been waiting for since last year, when we experienced the biggest fire in the history of the Republic of Slovenia,” said Minister of Defence Marjan Šarec at the signing of the contract for the purchase of two two-seat and two single-seat aircraft. He recalled that at that time it was decided that Slovenia needed dedicated firefighting aircraft in addition to the other capabilities it had in the area of protection and disaster relief. “We immediately started to prepare the documentation and the result of all this is today’s solemn signing of the contract, which will enable the start of a new cycle in the fight against natural disasters,” the Minister stressed, adding that as of today we are starting to set up a new system, the like of which we have never had before and which will mainly enable us to prevent large-scale fires. He pointed out that the role of aircraft with a capacity of over 3,000 litres will be extremely important in reacting immediately in the event of a fire outbreak, thus preventing fires of a larger scale.

The contract, worth a total of EUR 23,292,932.69 (including value added tax), covers the purchase of two two-seat and two single-seat aircraft. Two of these aircraft are expected to be delivered to Slovenia in June this year and will be ready for operational functioning and aerial firefighting operations this summer, after the appropriate registration and with the support of pilots from the Slovenian army. Next year, we will ensure full operational support for aerial firefighting with four dedicated aircraft within the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief.

The aircraft will allow reconnaissance and immediate reaction when a fire is detected, greatly reducing the chance of a large-scale wildfire developing. As the first dedicated unit of its kind in the country, aerial firefighting support will be organised as a separate internal organisational unit within the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief (URSZR). Until the establishment of the unit with pilot posts in the state administration in the URSZR, the aircraft will be operated by pilots from the Slovenian army trained for this purpose, or by interested pilots employed in the state administration, in accordance with the manufacturer’s criteria.

The Ministry is already implementing procedures to ensure the maintenance of aircraft and the training of pilots. The pilots will start their retraining immediately after today’s signing of the contract, first with the contractor and the manufacturer, and then in Slovenia with the support of external instructors in order to train in a realistic wildfire season environment. After the required training, pilots will be qualified to perform aerial firefighting tasks. Even from the point of view of technicians and engineers, there are specific skills involved. Given the specific nature of the labour market in this area, technicians and engineers will initially be provided by external contractors and the Slovenian army, and once the capacity to support firefighting from the air is fully established, we foresee the recruitment of appropriate staff within the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief.

The aircraft will be permanently based at one of the operational airports (Brnik or Cerklje ob Krki). During the wildfire season or major activities, they will be located at the nearest suitable airfield for the task, for example in the Karst region.

The unit will be part of the European Union’s common fleet and will be available for other firefighting missions within the European Union if needed, allowing Slovenia to assist other countries.

Aircraft technical characteristics:

•  wingspan: 18 metres
• length: 10.9 metres
• height: 4.9 metres
• water tank: 3,028 litres
• take-off length: land 600 metres (1,005 metres with 15-metre obstacles)
• lake, sea, river: 670 metres (1,707 metres with 15-metre obstacles).