European startups are developing successors to the legendary Canadair. The new aircraft will be able to carry up to 10 tons of water, with production potentially starting as early as 2031.
Every summer, the recognizable yellow Canadair aircraft appear above the most severe fire zones across Europe, saving property and lives. However, the fleet of these firefighting planes is aging, and with increasingly destructive fires, the demand for more modern solutions is rapidly growing.
European startups are now developing new and improved versions that could replace the legendary Canadair. According to Reuters, several companies from France and Italy are working on prototypes that promise greater efficiency and capacity.
Engineer Jonathan Beck, founder of the French startup Positive Aviation, is developing a system that would allow an aircraft to carry up to eight tons of water at once. They are using a disassembled ATR-72 fuselage as a test platform.
Nearby, the startup Kepplair is testing its own vision of a tanker with ground loading. Their concept could replace the Canadian Dash-8 in preventive patrols to suppress fires at their very start.
The closest to realization is the French startup HYNAERO with its Fregate-F100 aircraft. This model could carry 10 tons of water and be twice as efficient as the Canadair, with a price tag expected to be roughly the same, around $80 million.
Italian company 19-01 Holding is promoting its own concept through the WF-X amphibious aircraft. They describe it as an "integrated system for firefighting and emergency response." However, production of this aircraft is not expected to begin until 2031, making it a longer-term project.
Developing a new firefighting aircraft is an extremely demanding endeavor that involves extensive research, development, and certification before it can even enter production. Cost estimates vary widely, from around ten million dollars to adapt an old Canadair with a new system, up to a billion dollars for developing a completely new aircraft, with some experts warning that the final figure could be significantly higher.
The last time European companies attempted to build a firefighting aircraft, the world looked completely different. In the 1980s, Germany's Dornier and Italy's Aeritalia were developing the Advanced Amphibious Aircraft (AAA), but that project never came to fruition, precisely due to high costs.
All these startups must compete with a new version of the Canadair, whose production resumed this year after an 11-year hiatus. With increasingly larger and more destructive fires in Europe, the demand for firefighting aircraft will only grow, and for many European startups working on new solutions, this could be the opportunity of a lifetime.
