A new Sikorsky S-70M "Black Hawk" helicopter for extinguishing wildfires in Europe will be operationalized by our country, following the signing of a purchase contract on Tuesday at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"We are witnessing an extremely important project, different from the project that was and through which seven Black Hawk helicopters have already arrived in Romania - six for emergency situations and one for the police. Here we are talking about a helicopter that will be coordinated at the European level by the European Civil Protection Mechanism - it is 100% funded by the European Union through which intervention equipment was contracted, and Romania is contracting the first RescEU helicopter that will be made available to the European Commission. This helicopter will be operated by General Aviation Inspectorate (IGAv) and will be located in Romania, but when needed it can be mobilized anywhere in the European space", the head of Emergency Department (DSU) Raed Arafat said on Tuesday.
He added that RescEU projects have shown great efficiency in emergency situations and is one of the most successful measures that have been taken by the European Civil Protection, ensuring additional capacities when those available were insufficient.
"Thus, the RescUE program is considered a 'last resort' program, it is used when other solutions can no longer work or are no longer sufficient", Arafat also said, who specified that the delivery of the helicopter will have place in a maximum of two years.
The project is coordinated by the DSU and implemented in partnership with the General Aviation Inspectorate (IGAv), with the general objective of developing a capacity to extinguish forest fires, consisting in the purchase of a medium-heavy multi-role helicopter, within the Civil Protection Mechanism of the European Union.
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