Fire service acquires three owned aircraft, marking major upgrade in civil protection

Greece has received its first privately-owned firefighting aircraft in the history of the Fire Service, in a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who described the event as “symbolic” and “historic” for the country.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the acquisition marks the start of the most ambitious program to upgrade the aerial assets of Civil Protection, funded by the Recovery Fund. He called it “the largest investment in the country’s resilience,” underlining its necessity as Greece faces increasingly complex crises exacerbated by climate change.

“As the fight against climate change becomes harder, we must upgrade the tools at our disposal,” Mitsotakis said.

The new aircraft represent a qualitative leap in operational capability for the Fire Service. Equipped with state-of-the-art optical systems and cameras, they allow for enhanced monitoring and prevention of fires. The aircraft also reduce flight costs significantly and are integrated into a unified doctrine of internal and external security, enabling their use in border surveillance missions as well.

The aircraft are Diamond DA62 MPP surveillance planes, which Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Giannis Kefalogiannis described as multi-purpose security and coordination tools. They can serve various missions with the same overarching purpose: protecting lives, the environment, and property.

Planned uses include:

Forest monitoring and wildfire prevention

Flood and earthquake monitoring

Search and rescue operations

Damage assessment and coordination during natural disasters

When required, border surveillance and support of armed forces or law enforcement operations

Kefalogiannis emphasized that these aircraft constitute an operational upgrade for Civil Protection, officially beginning today, enhancing Greece’s preparedness and response capabilities across a wide range of emergencies.