Against the backdrop of the wave of wildfires raging in the north of the country as a result of rocket fire by Hezbollah, the Israeli Air Force is preparing for a significant upgrade in its firefighting capabilities. Sources in “Israel Hayom” reveal that the IDF is currently establishing a new infrastructure at the air force base in Nevatim, which will allow the Hercules aircraft to participate in the firefighting efforts.<\/p>\n
The significant advantages of using the Hercules aircraft for extinguishing fires are many. First, their ability to carry large quantities of flame retardant, which can be applied to the fire area at once. Second, unlike the “Elad” squadron planes that are currently used by the fire brigade, the Hercules planes are able to operate even in the hours of darkness, which enables a continuous firefighting effort throughout the hours of the day.<\/p>\n
The initiative to develop this capability began even before the events of October 7th, following in-depth discussions that took place at the National Security Headquarters. A decision on the issue and the budgetary sources have been found.<\/p>\n
The process includes the establishment of a factory – in fact, a special hangar – at Nevatim base. In this facility, the flame retardant materials will be received and undergo special processing until they are assembled in a cargo drum adapted to be dropped from the Hercules. The purpose of the process is to ensure that the material placement is as efficient as possible.<\/p>\n
It is important to note that this is not the first time that the Hercules planes participate in firefighting efforts. About two years ago, during huge fires in the Jerusalem mountains, the Samson planes (another name for the Hercules planes) participated in the extinguishing and dropped flame retardants. However, the materials then used were not in the optimal configuration, and could not be loaded at a rapid rate. The current project aims to solve these problems and significantly improve the extinguishing efficiency.<\/p>\n
Sources in the IDF point out that despite the acceleration of many processes since October 7, it currently does not seem possible to bring forward the timetables for the training of the new system. The estimates are that the process will be completed by next summer.<\/p>\n
It is important to emphasize that the main role of the Hercules planes in the air force is air supply – that is, dropping supplies to the fighting forces deep in enemy territory. This precise capability will also be used to drop flame retardants on a large scale and with great efficiency.<\/p>\n
Among other things, one can learn a lot about the operational flexibility of the Air Force and its willingness to adapt its capabilities to the changing challenges. With the completion of the project, Israel will be able to deal more effectively with huge fires, whether they are the result of hostile activity or extreme weather conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The advantage: the ability to carry large quantities of flame retardant material and activity even at night. The project is expected to be completed by next summer. A military official: “We have sped up many processes since October 7, but it is not possible to advance the schedules of this project”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":9108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1545,1546,1544,1475,1547],"class_list":["post-9107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security","tag-fires","tag-galilee","tag-hezbollah","tag-idf","tag-nasrallah"],"yoast_head":"\n