In the European forest fire season, nothing works without fire-fighting aircraft. In sparsely populated regions, they are usually the only chance to contain the source of a fire and to support the fire brigade on the ground. In Germany, on the other hand, until 2022 only helicopters from the Bundeswehr and federal police have taken on firefighting missions. Last year, for the first time in decades, Italian Canadair firefighting boats were used in the Harz Mountains.
So far, Germany has not had its own fire-fighting aircraft. However, in view of the increasing number of forest fires, politicians are making new considerations. The first fire-fighting aircraft has been stationed in the Harz Mountains since May. The older PZL M-18 Dromader from Poland can drop up to 2200 liters of water per flight and is stationed at Ballenstedt Airfield. In addition, Leipzig Airport has been selected as the base for possible private fire-fighting aircraft.