Coulson Aviation has placed one of its CH-47 helitankers in Argentina. The helicopter is providing aerial firefighting support services to the country via a $5.2 million government-to-government (G2G) contract between the Canadian Commercial Corp. (CCC) and Argentina’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MAyDS). The four-month contract began in January.
“The 10,000 liter [2,641-gallon] capacity CH-47 is not only the largest payload commercially available helicopter; it’s also one of the fastest,” said Britton Coulson, company president and COO. “We have been operating this fleet type worldwide with excellent serviceability and look forward to demonstrating its capabilities to the Argentine government.”
This G2G contract comes as a result of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between CCC and MAyDS to bring Canadian firefighting expertise and technology to Argentina and is financed by Argentina’s National Fire Management Program—Servicio Nacional del Manejo del Fuego—which supports the monitoring and prevention of fire emergencies.
CCC is Canada’s government-to-government contracting agency. It has facilitated the dispatch of Canada-based Coulson’s asset dispatch to other parts of the world as well, including the placement of two Sikorsky S-61s and a Boeing CH-47D to combat fires in the Bolivian Amazon rainforest.