The chief of fire department of Croatia, Slavko Tucaković, said today that they welcome the fire season with a sufficient number of canards and Air Tractors, and the fleet will be strengthened in approximately two to three years with two more canards.
After the purchase of fighter jets, Croatia will also strengthen the second part of the flying fleet, namely the canards for firefighting. As Tucaković explained, Croatia has signed an agreement with the European Union on the purchase of two airplanes that will be the backbone of firefighting operations in the summer months, especially in the coastal area.
“Five canards, six air tractors and one helicopter will be ready for this season,” said Tucaković, assessing that this is a sufficient number of firefighting aircraft. He cites the example of France, which per square kilometer and population has a much smaller number of aircraft than Croatia.
At this moment, two Canadians and four Air Tractors are ready for takeoff. The remaining part is in the regular servicing mode, so at the beginning of the season they will be fully ready for the most demanding tasks.
Tucaković adds that they currently have a sufficient number of crews, and new ones are being trained, Hina writes.