22 planes being added to federal fleet to fight wildfires

This month’s passage of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014 included good news for Western states: the transfer of seven C-130 Hercules air tankers and 15 C-23B+ Sherpa smoke-jumper aircrafts to the Forest Service for use in fighting wildfires.

A U.S. Government Accountability Office report from August noted that the number of Forest Service large air tankers (LATs) had dropped from 44 aircraft in 2003 to just 8 in 2013.

The C-130 Hercules aircraft will be used as LATs, and the C-23B Sherpa aircraft will serve as smoke-jumper and cargo transports. The tanker capacity of the C-130 is 3,000-4,000 gallons per aircraft. Each aircraft will be structurally reinforced by the U.S. Air Force to extend their operational lifetime to about 10 years, according to the Forest Service.

The aircraft will be transferred to the Forest Service after necessary modifications are made.