This year, the Armed Forces will have Black Hawk helicopters and C-130 planes committed to fighting fires, with military personnel trained to fly them, Defense Minister Nuno Melo said this Wednesday in Leiria.
Speaking on the sidelines of the presentation of the minister highlighted the investment that the Government has made in the Armed Forces, stating that, “from this perspective, prevention will also be extended to combat, through aerial means, with Black Hawk helicopters”.
“The pilots have been trained and the first helicopters will be deployed this year, precisely in 2026, to fight fires. At the same time, the Council of Ministers’ resolution has already come from this Government, which guarantees the implementation of fire-fighting devices on C-130 aircraft, whether with water” or with a retardant product, he added.
For Nuno Melo, the The State must regain the “capacity it once had and lost”.
“We defend, and I particularly in national defense, that the State must invest to provide the Armed Forces with its own resources that, in emergency situations, can help in what is an effort of support to the civilian population”, said the minister.
The governor also stated that “the three branches of the Armed Forces are committed to the field, prevention and combat”.
But he considered that “this is a path that cannot be taken overnight”.
“In this year of 2026, the Armed Forces will have more resources and more soldiers on the ground than they had in 2025, than they had in 2024, on a path that will always be greater in relation to the future”, he informed.
Nuno Melo understands that the intervention by the Armed Forces “is valid for different scenarios, be they preventing and fighting fires, medical emergencies, transporting organs that are used in transplants and that save lives” or “in supporting those who investigate crimes so that impressive results, such as drug seizures, occur”.
“Times are really very difficult and sensitive”
Asked if the Portuguese Armed Forces have sufficient personnel to meet this CIPO missionsince there are several military personnel committed to various international commitments, Nuno Melo guaranteed that “they will have all their capabilities and equipment at the necessary level and available for this mission, as designed and requested by the Internal Administration”.
“It is very important to understand that what was said here today was not an exercise in rhetoric. Times are indeed very difficult and sensitive. The forecasts are, to a certain extent, alarming. And we, public entities, have to rise to the challenges. At the same time, we also need people’s collaboration.”
Its purpose is the removal of combustible material accumulated by storms, the cleaning of critical areas, the reopening of paths and the improvement of access.
Reducing the risk of rural fires before summer, in a year when there are thousands of trees fallen due to storms, is what the Government intends with this structure, which involves the ministries of Internal Administration, National Defense and Agriculture and Sea, whose heads were at the presentation session.
The CIPO, in addition to ANEPC, includes the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests, the Integrated Rural Fire Management Agency, the National Republican Guard, the Portuguese Firefighters League and the General Staff of the Armed Forces.
