Israeli firefighting squadron sent additional help to Greece to assist in its fire-fighting efforts in the form of two Air Tractor fire-fighting aircraft. The decision was announced at a telephone call between Iaraeli Premier Naftali Bennett Greece’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during which the former expressed solidarity and support for Greece as it faces the raging fires. This assistance is in addition to the Israeli firefighters who are already deployed in Greece operating in coordination with the Hellenic Air Force. Maintained by Elbit System for the past decade, the aircraft take off from Hellenic Air Force base in Tanagra in an effort to protect local wildlife.
Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest non-government-owned defense company. In 2020, the company completed a successful field demonstration of its patented Hydrop system, an innovative solution enabling high-altitude high-precision aerial firefighting. During the exercise two Air Tractor aircraft from the Israeli Fire Fighting Squadron were directed to extinguish a burning field, from as high as 500 ft., more than four times higher than the average altitude of a standard aerial firefighting sortie. Using the HyDrop system each aircraft launched 1.6-tons of 140-gram liquid pellets in a computed ballistic trajectory, achieving a precise hit with saturation of 1-2 liter per 1 square meter.
