Cravinho promised, but did not equip Air Force planes to erase fireworks. Now they are inoperative

The state has 10 aircraft that could be used in fire fighting… but it is lacking kits that enable it. In 2019, the then Minister of Defense, João Gomes Cravinho, promised that the planes would have double use. However, the purchase contract did not provide for such kit for firefighting.

There is currently lack of air media to combat fires in Portugal.

Interestingly, the Portuguese Air Force (FAP) has 10 aircraft – 3 aircraft and 7 helicopters – which could be used to combat rural fires.

However, these aircraft are not being used for this purpose, because the state has not bought the kits that allow us to adapt the devices to this mission.

Em 2019, João Gomes Cravinhothen Minister of National Defense, said the Airplanes would have a double use -“civil and military, including fire fighting” -but this never happened.

According to, despite the promise, the socialist did not explain, at the time, that the contract did not provide for the purchase of the kit that enables this mission.

As the same newspaper writes, to be used to combat fire, these three heavy planes and seven light helicopters would have to be adapted with a “Aerotransportable modular fire fighting system”which integrates a tank with capacity to carry 12 thousand liters.

O kit It was first used by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) in July 2024; And it has been an effective tool in fighting forest fires, such as Pantanal and in the interior of the state of São Paulo, ”says the newspaper.

In a note published on its website, the FAB says the KC-390 is suitable for the “large-scale forest fires.”

The six KC-390 that Portugal bought to Brazilian Embraer-who intend to replace the Lockheed C-130 who have been operating for over 45 years in FAP-have no primary mission to fire fighting, but can be used at these missions, as Gomes Cravinho had promised.

O KC-390 only fuel water in an aerodrome -Unlike amphibians who can quickly replenish into a river or lake-and needs about 40 minutes to take off again, which conditions the rhythm of discharges.

However, the public explains, can carry 12 thousand liters of water And you don’t need to drop it at once, and a single load can be used in multiple fires.

2018 plan for incendays is still in the drawer

O Incendiary Rehabilitation Program, announced in 2018it was however reformulated, but has not yet been implemented In prisons, where there are currently 86 people arrested for the crime of forest fire.

In an answer sent to Lusa, the Directorate-General for Reinsertion and Prison Services (DGRSP) explained that the program “was the subject of evaluation and reformulation” and also said that training was given to 38 technicians.

“However and in practical terms, the program has not yet been implemented with the prisoners,” added the DGRSP, without advanced a date for the implementation of the incendiary rehabilitation program.

At this time, according to the numbers advanced by the DGRSP, the Portuguese chains have 86 people arrested for the crime of forest fire.

Of this total, 40 were sentenced to an effective imprisonment, 25 were considered unimputable and are fulfilled an internment, 16 are in custody awaiting trial and five expect the conviction to be res judicata.

The registration of convicts and unimputable – 65 prisoners – is the highest number since 2013, the year in which there were registration and existed in arrests 21 arrested for the crime of forest fire. Compared to last year’s data, updated on December 31, 2024, there are now 15 more prisoners.

In addition to the detainees in the arrests, there are also 13 people with electronic surveillance – 11 under the suspension of the execution of the prison sentence and 2 on parole.

The incendiary rehabilitation program began to be designed in 2016, and the DGRSP advanced with an adaptation proposal for the Portuguese context of the “Firesetting Intervention, Program for Prisoners” program at the United Kingdom, which aimed to prevent recurrence.