France deploys military transport aircraft in trial to fight wildfires

French authorities have begun using an A400M military transport aircraft on a trial basis to help fight wildfires in the south of the country, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on BFMTV.

According to Nuñez, the aircraft was equipped with a system allowing it to drop 20,000 liters of water, equivalent to the capacity of three Canadair firefighting aircraft.

The interior minister said the experiment was carried out with the approval of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and added that the necessary tests would be conducted within 15 days.

Nuñez also noted that France currently has 12 Canadair firefighting aircraft, eight Dash aircraft, and three reconnaissance planes, as well as six light aircraft equipped with water tanks and several dozen firefighting helicopters.

By Jeyhun Aghazada