Early Roll Out of Firefighting Aircraft by Victorian Gov’t

By Andrew Curran

The Victoria State Government has deployed 15 firefighting aircraft one month early ahead of what’s expected to be a significant fire season.

Premier Jacinta Allan announced the deployment at a November 5, 2025, event where one of those aircraft, a Kestrel Aviation Sikorsky S70 UH60 (Black Hawk) helicopter, registered as N125FH (msn 70124), was on display.

The regionally-based aircraft will start their service period in different locations including Ballarat, Stawell, and Ovens Valley, and can be moved across the state as needed.

Victoria’s aerial firefighting fleet comprises a mix of firebombing aircraft, air supervision and information-gathering aircraft. They also play an important role in supporting the ground operations of firefighters.

The state has had a long history of catastrophic bushfires, the deadliest of which, the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009, claimed 173 lives.

“Victoria is one of the most bushfire prone regions in the world and this coming fire season is predicted to be another difficult one,” said Allan. “That’s why we’re acting early, bringing on a month early a number of aircraft like this Black Hawk helicopter.”

The remainder of this year’s aerial firefighting fleet will arrive over the next month and into early December. They are contracted until late March 2026. However, the contracts can be extended, if required.

Core firefighting aircraft fleet supplement by on-call capacity

Victoria also has a call-when-needed capacity of up to 100 aircraft that can supplement the core fleet, which is available year-round.

Speaking at the same event, Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said 23 aircraft were currently good to go around the state.

“Our aviation fleet is a critical part of our response to fire,” he said. “The aviation fleet can provide real time intelligence back to our control centres. They also support crews on the ground by dropping water and retardant.”

An important local aircraft supplier, Kestrel Aviation operates an extensive helicopter fleet, including the Bell 206L3, Bell 212, Bell 412, Sikorsky S-76C+, Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk, Airbus AS332L1 Super Puma, and Erickson S-64 Air Crane. The Black Hawk and Erickson Air Crane helicopters are the company’s specialised firefighting aircraft and have operated across multiple firefighting seasons on behalf of various state governments.

Photo: Emergency Management Victoria.