Civil Protection is renewing its fleet with €2.1 bln
Greece will bolster the equipment of Civil Protection through the Aegis program with a total budget of 2.1 billion euros, with significant additions to its air, ground, technological and other equipment in 2025: over new 10 aircraft, as many new helicopters and more than 1,100 fire engines are included in this program.
This is the largest Civil Protection equipment project to ever have been carried out in Greece, with a significant part of the selection of suppliers and orders for the individual programs having either been contracted, or expected to be contracted immediately, or in a maturation phase that is estimated to have been completed through a tender before the end of summer.
The equipment includes, among others, three twin-engine aircraft that will serve as an aerial operations center for monitoring and data recording for the 13 regions of Greece, five new Canadair CL-515 firefighting aircraft, the value of which reaches €260 million, three medium-sized helicopters for medical missions, disaster response and transportation of first responders, with a €75 million budget, fire trucks, collapsible portable bridges and more.
For the aforementioned supplies, contracts have already been signed or will be signed in the immediate future.
Other important projects are also in the bid evaluation phase, such as the supply of amphibious single-engine fixed-wing aircraft, budgeted at €155 million, and the supply of additional fire trucks with a budget of €248.5 million.
By the end of this month, tenders for projects are to be announced with a total budget of €513 million, which include, among other things, the supply of 10 medium-type helicopters for the Fire Service as well as ambulances, emergency communication stations and other special means of patrolling and evacuating citizens.
“The climate crisis is developing rapidly and now more and more often we are faced with extreme weather phenomena that cause unprecedented natural disasters, so we are well aware that this year’s firefighting season will be very difficult and the battle we will fight a long one,” Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Vassilis Kikilias notes to Kathimerini.
