According to Resolution 440/2022 of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, published on October 21 in the Official Gazette, said agency closed the contracting of an H215 Puma helicopter to the french firm Airtelis to provide support for three months, during the peak of the forest fire season.
According to the resolution, the decision to hire additional means is «due to the intensity and dispersion of the fires, it was necessary to increase the number of rented means, in order to meet the needs of the SNMF -Servicio Nacional de Manejo del Fuego: Firefighting National Agency- during the next summer season».
At the same time, it is highlighted that «two (2) new tenders are being carried out by virtue of reinforcing the number of aerial means needed through Tenders N°20 and N°21/2022, noting that the aircraft rental market is at the limit of its supply capacity.»
And it is stated that «in view of the various environmental incidents that have occurred throughout the territory of the Argentine Republic, it is deemed imperative to have more resources to face the 2022/23 season.»
aviso_274139For the reasons given, the national government closed with Airtelis the contracting of an H215, by virtue of «the performance of such aircraft in matters such as its load capacity, transport of brigade members, water unloading, operating at high altitude and with high environmental temperatures and its associated equipment for fighting forest fires» for three and a half months, with 105 hours of operation (30 hours per month), with the possibility of exceeding such amount.
The three-and-a-half-month term will begin on December 15 and run through March 31, 2023. The aircraft will be based in San Carlos de Bariloche. Maximum daily operation times will be 12 hours under daytime flight conditions, with a 30-minute response time from receipt of notification.
The 105 contracted hours include the ferry flight from Buenos Aires to Bariloche and its return, so these hours will be deducted from the total. The value of the contract is 4,250,000 euros, and each additional hour will have a value of 5,800 euros. None of these values include the fuel used, which is estimated at 107,000 euros for those first 105 hours.
anexo_6726752_1The Airbus H215, a firefighting workhorse
Among the various aerial tools available for forest firefighting, seaplanes and airplanes generally get the most attention and admiration for the operational profile that such equipment entails.
The work of the Scoopers, which take material directly from the water mirrors, mix it on board with retardant chemicals and drop it over large areas of land, is admirable, although it must also be considered that such operations have very particular requirements and not all scenarios are adapted to them.
If the water mirror does not have specific characteristics, or if there are no runways prepared for the operation of larger tankers, the fight against a fire may fall to smaller aircraft or versatile helicopters, which have the great advantage of versatility, proximity to the area of interest and the low need for infrastructure on site.
This is how helicopters are tremendously effective, dropping a smaller volume of water, but with a much higher frequency. Among rotary-wing elements, the H215 comes close to an ideal between capability and operating cost.
«The H215 is more cost-effective compared to larger helicopters such as the Chinooks,» explains Roy Knaus, managing director of Heli Austria, who has previous firefighting experience with the Super Puma in Sardinia.
Heli Austria and Heli Lama – the Chilean subsidiary of Horizon Helicopters, formed an alliance in 2021 that allowed them to cooperate in the summer seasons of each hemisphere. «The Super Puma is a very fast and powerful multi-mission helicopter, which makes it very effective for firefighting operations,» adds Cole Hodinski, director of operations at Horizon Helicopters.
«It can be quickly reconfigured to deal with any situation we are tasked with,» concludes Hodinksi.
Airbus displayed the capabilities of the H215 on a Demo Tour of China in 2017, when it was possible to observe the helicopter handling the Bambi Bucket system with 4,000 liters of water maximum capacity, five times the volume an H125 can handle.
