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Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner and Deputy Head of State Stephan Pernkopf visited the joint air service exercise of the volunteer fire brigade and the armed forces in Langenlebarn. The flight service group of the Lower Austrian Firefighters Association and the soldiers of the Federal Army work together on forest fires, avalanches, landslides or floods. The focus of the exercise was training on wildland fire operations.
Squadron commander Wolfgang Rafetseder said: “The armed forces support the volunteer fire brigade, especially when the terrain is impassable or the fire is very large.”
Both airplanes and helicopters are used. The proven Pilatus Porter aircraft with its integrated 800 liter tanks transports up to 80,000 liters of extinguishing water to a fire source per day. A Black Hawk helicopter can hold 3,000-liter extinguishing buckets as external cargo and discharge water with pinpoint precision. Both techniques were impressively demonstrated at the Brumwoswki Air Base airfield.
Six AW169M helicopters
and three new Black Hawks
Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner announced a further upgrade to the location: “Six of our new AW169M helicopters will be stationed at Langenlebarn. In addition to the existing season, three new Black Hawks will also arrive in Langenlebarn. The new helicopter squadron is used here not only for training, as before, but also for operations. “That shows how important this location is.
A modern helicopter also needs a modern environment, says Tanner: “That is why we will invest around 20 million euros in the expansion and modernization of the barracks over the next few years.” The fire brigade and the armed forces are side by side in various operations, such as floods and wildfires, so these exercises are of great importance.
For Stephan Pernkopf, deputy head of state, Lower Austria’s armed forces and fire departments are “the state’s security professionals.” He said: “The threat of wildfires in particular is increasing. Therefore, I am very pleased that the new helicopter can carry three times more fire fighting water than its predecessor. Parking of the new helicopters in Langenlebarn means strengthening for the location and for yourself safety in Lower Austria. “
500 forest firefighters are trained
The commander of the state fire brigade, Dietmar Fahrafellner, specified the additional training plans: “We will train a total of 500 forest firefighters according to the Portuguese model.” Even today, the cooperation between the flight service and the firefighters on the ground works smoothly, “if we go into action together.” Therefore, exercises like these are of great importance.
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