Forest Service seeks tankers
Forest Service seeks tankers
11 February 2012
published by http://durangoherald.com
USA — DENVER The U.S. Forest Service released its long-awaited strategy Friday for replacing its wildfire-fighting fleet of aging heavy air tankers with ones that are newer, faster and more cost-effective, though its unclear how quickly those multimillion-dollar planes will come on line.
Its current fleet is owned and operated by private contractors, but the agency said its possible the government could own some planes in the future.
Thats an option, said Jim Hubbard, the U.S. Forest Services deputy chief for state and private forestry. Were looking for the best value.
The agency uses a mix of aircraft, including single-engine air tankers and helicopters, to support firefighters on the ground.
But its fleet of 11 heavy air tankers that drop slurry over fires is at least 50 years old. More than half face mandatory retirement within 10 years.
The Forest Service said Friday that the next generation of heavy tankers should be powered by turbine engines rather than piston engines that are less reliable and less fuel-efficient.
They should have a minimum cruise speed of 345 mph and be able to carry at least 1,800 gallons of mixed retardant without having to return to a base, the agency said.
The planes also must be able to meet Forest Service contract structural integrity program requirements.
We need a core fleet of the next generation large air tankers to supplement our boots-on-the-ground firefighters for what we know will be longer and more severe wildfire seasons in years to come, Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said in a written statement.
In 2004, the Forest Service grounded 33 air tankers after questions about whether several types of air tankers were safe. That encouraged contractors and others to think about what their replacements should look like.
We applaud the Forest Service for releasing this strategy, said Nelson Litterst, a representative for current Forest Service contractor Minden Air Corp. It gives contractors some direction as theyre developing the next generation of firefighting aircraft.
Minden Air Corp. and Neptune Aviation Services have been looking at using a BAe-146, designed for mountain flying and available for around $7 million to $8 million.
By contrast, C-130s, which the Forest Service occasionally borrows from the military to fight wildfires, are around $70 million, Hubbard said.
Meanwhile, 10 Tanker Air Carrier LLC is offering its DC-10 jets. Already the company has flown more than 400 missions on more than 70 fires, including 62 days of firefighting for the Forest Service last year under a call when needed contract, said company President and CEO Rick Hatton. It plans to bid for more contracts.
Were offering probably the largest airplane thats in this hunt. That may be outside the so-called target theyve established, but we believe theres merit to that. Size should not be a negative. It can do the work of multiple airplanes that are smaller, Hatton said.
Hubbard said the look of the nations new firefighting fleet will depend on how much money is available for modernization and what the private sector can do.
Well probably have a mixed fleet of different airplanes to meet our needs, Hubbard said.
