A specialist aerial firefighting organisation says ongoing certification delays are preventing four Transall C-160 fixed-wing tankers from being deployed in Australia, despite the aircraft completing comprehensive flight evaluations.
Transall Tankers Founder John McDermott said one aircraft was fully prepared and ready for deployment, with a second in the final stages of modification, but federal government sign-off on certification remained outstanding nearly 12 months after the program was announced.
"The capability is ready now," Mr McDermott said. "Significant private investment has already been made, the aircraft have been extensively evaluated, and they should already be supporting firefighting operations."
The company has invested heavily in the program, including the development of a world-first fixed-wing firefighting tank system in partnership with Queensland-based Helitak Firefighting Equipment. The Helitak FT Series tank enables rapid-fill, high-volume delivery of water and retardant and has been engineered specifically for Australian firefighting conditions. Flight evaluations to confirm the safety aspects and capabilities of the fire suppression system have been successfully completed, including grid pattern analysis to establish ground coverage levels.
McDermott said the delays were also forcing the company to seek approvals in overseas jurisdictions in order to operate internationally while Australian certification remained outstanding, adding significant costs to the program.
"We are now incurring significant costs to secure overseas approvals because the aircraft are still not certified here in Australia," he said. "But beyond the commercial impact, the bigger issue is that these aircraft are unavailable to support firefighting operations despite being fully prepared and evaluated."
The Transall C-160 was selected for its ability to operate in rugged terrain and access regional and remote airstrips unsuitable for larger fixed-wing firefighting aircraft. Unlike larger tankers that must return to major bases to reload, the system is designed to refill rapidly from local water sources, allowing aircraft to return to operations within minutes.
"With increasingly severe fire seasons, Australia cannot afford to have proven firefighting capability sitting idle," Mr McDermott said.
Transall Tankers said it remained committed to completing the certification process and was continuing to work closely with relevant agencies to finalise approvals, with McDermott expressing hope that the remaining federal government sign-off would be forthcoming in time to have the aircraft operational ahead of the next fire season.