Rising Wildfire Threat

Wildfires are no longer seasonal or regional — they are becoming a global, year-round crisis. Climate change, hotter summers, and prolonged droughts are creating the conditions for larger, faster, and more destructive fires.

  • Annual wildfire damages now exceed €20 billion worldwide, and the figure continues to rise

  • Fires are burning closer to cities and infrastructure, threatening lives, property, and critical services

  • The environmental toll is immense, with millions of hectares of forests lost each year and vast amounts of carbon released into the atmosphere

Why a New Approach is Needed

Traditional, crewed firefighting aircraft are too expensive, too scarce, and too limited to meet tomorrow’s wildfire challenges. The future lies in affordable, unmanned fleets that can operate day and night, in greater numbers, across dispersed regions — reducing response times and maximizing coverage

An Aging and Insufficient Fleet

The world’s firefighting aircraft are not keeping pace with this escalating threat:

  • Half of all water bombers are over 30 years old, making them increasingly unreliable and expensive to maintain

  • Most countries operate fewer than 10 aircraft in total, leaving them underprepared for multiple simultaneous fires

  • The only modern replacements available today, such as the CL-515, cost €45–50 million each and remain out of reach for many nations

The Market Demand

This mismatch between growing wildfire risks and limited firefighting capacity has created a clear, urgent demand:

  • Replacement: Aging fleets must be retired within the next decade to avoid operational collapse.

  • Expansion: More aircraft are urgently needed to cover wider territories and respond faster

  • Opportunity: Over 20 wildfire-prone countries face this challenge simultaneously, representing a multi-billion euro global market for scalable, cost-effective solutions