“In 1974 our country through the Air Force acquired 9 Canadair CL 215. I am pleased to announce to you that half a century later, 50 years later, we are proceeding with the acquisition of the last generation of Canadair 515 CL in a framework agreement of the European Union and of the member states, with the Canadian Government and the company that now manufactures them”.

With the above reference, the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, opened his speech to the Standing Production Committee of the Parliament regarding the Draft Law “Approval of the Draft Contract for the supply of DHC-515 type aircraft”.

These are 7 Canadair CL-515: Five amphibious medium-type fire-fighting aircraft with a capacity in water of about 6 tons, which will be paid for through the NSRF and European programs of the next period. And 2 more similar aircraft that Greece will procure through the RescEU program. This program envisages the purchase of a total of 12 Canadairs which will be allocated (2 each) to 6 member states (Greece, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Croatia).

As the Minister pointed out, in the midst of the climate crisis and with all the very important issues that have to do with the protection of human life, citizens’ property, but also the natural beauty of the country and the ecology, this agreement for the supply of aircraft is crucial.

“You know very well that for many years, especially the years of the restrictive fiscal policies and the economic crisis in the country, the procurement of equipment, either to the Armed Forces, or to the Security Forces and therefore also to the Civil Protection and the Fire Brigade, was very difficult and they were limited to those of the necessary means which were required in order to be able to protect our country, as it is a matter of internal security. As you know the Canadair 215 and 415 are the main means by which we fight our battles. Battles we fought last year and will fight again this year to extinguish the forest fires” said the Minister.

He added that the supply of 7 Canadairs is a huge program, the deliveries of which are already agreed with the other side, while the guarantees of the entire program are given by the Canadian Government itself for the construction company. The deliveries are as follows: Two aircraft will be delivered in 2027, one aircraft in 2028, one aircraft in 2029 and three aircraft in 2030.

This procurement will also cover the initial spare parts inventory of the seven aircraft, as well as the corresponding support equipment. In addition, as Mr. Kikilias pointed out, in addition to the above orders, Greece is in negotiations with the manufacturing company, in order to undertake a 43 million euro cost program for the upgrade of the Canadair CL415 aircraft that we have in our country. This concerns one of the actions of the AEGIS Program and is implemented through TAIPED.

He also noted that in the next few days the Prime Minister of the country, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will pay an official visit to Canada and will have the opportunity – once ratified by the Greek Parliament – to sign the ritual of this agreement.

And he underlined: “The procurement of Canadair is a legacy for the Fire Service, for our fellow citizens, for the country and for the next generations, and comes to be added to a very ambitious, very, very large and important program, the AEGIS Program worth 2.1 billion euros. For which I am pleased to announce to you that based on the timetables we have set and the way we are proceeding by the end of March – beginning of April, it will have been auctioned in its entirety”, the Minister emphasized, explaining that from the fire department period of 2025, AEGIS equipment supplies will start arriving in the country. “We are talking about medium-sized helicopters, amphibious aircraft, air surveillance aircraft, drones, sensors, laser and infrared infrared cameras. For over 1000 fire trucks, because the needs in the Fire Department are huge and some of the fire trucks we have are four decades old and behind. For all new technologies, in order for artificial intelligence to be able to do prognosis-prediction and risk assessment. So we will have further upgrading and support of engage and 112 in the Civil Protection war room, training, awareness, digitization programs. It is a program which for the first time is invested in such a comprehensively organized and structured manner in Civil Protection, the Fire Brigade and our Ministry”.