Meet the fleet: The helicopters and planes protecting you this bushfire season

Friday 12 DecemberFri 12 Dec 2025 at 8:13pm

A red and white helicopter hovering in a blue sky. — The UH 60A Blackhawk helicopter is one of the heroes of Australia's national aerial firefighting fleet. (Supplied: DEECA)

The UH-60A Blackhawk began life as a weapon of war.

Capable of carting 4 tonnes of ordinance at speeds of up to 278 kilometres per hour, this formidable multi-role helicopter was envisioned as a battlefield "taxi", delivering destruction and mayhem into the very heart of a combat zone.

Blackhawks are now deployed across Victoria on a very different mission: to protect the state's most vulnerable communities, private property and precious natural reserves from bushfire.

The Victorian firefighting fleet is made up of 54 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft on stand-by across the state, ready to respond to any bushfire emergency within just 15 minutes.

It is a similar story for each Australian state. New South Wales has more than 100 aircraft available, South Australia, more than 30.

In addition, about 100 aircraft are "on call" from all over the country under national and state sharing agreements.

Manager of aviation services at the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), Alina Hamblyn, is responsible for putting Victoria's aerial fleet together.

"Before each fire season, we look at what Victoria needs and we then ensure we pull together that diverse fleet with all the capability to ensure we do keep Victoria safe," Ms Hamblyn said.

A medium-sized helicopter with a dangling hose hovers above a large white water container. — An AS332 Super Puma helicopter refills with water from a dip tank before returning to a fire zone.(Supplied: FFMVic)

Serving alongside two Ballarat-based Blackhawks are several military types, including an Airbus (formerly Aerospatiale) AS332 Super Puma utility helicopter, Erickson air cranes and a giant four-engined C130 Hercules transport.

They are joined by an eclectic mix that includes agricultural air tractors converted into close support fire bombers and civil helicopters repurposed as mobile observation platforms.

Others transport crack teams of initial first attack "commandos" who rappel into otherwise hard-to-reach zones ahead of the fire line.

Two firefighters hanging out the side of a helicopter. — Firefighters rappel from a fire attack helicopter.(Supplied: FFMVic)

This wildly diverse air wing gives firefighting teams an extraordinary level of capability and flexibility.

"With Victoria and NSW, you have such a grand landscape and typography across different areas that require different attacks," Ms Hamblyn explained.

"That's why you'll see many different shapes and sizes of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters."

A red and a yellow propeller plane on a runway with a large orange helicopter in the background. — A pair of Air Tractors and a Sikorsky Aircrane prepare to join other aircraft fighting the Grampians bushfires in western Victoria.(Supplied: FFMVic)

The aerial fleet plays a supplementary role to traditional ground firefighting efforts conducted by thousands of professional firefighters and fire support officers across Victoria and New South Wales, along with tens of thousands of Country Fire Authority volunteers.

"It's hard to put a percentage value on [aerial firefighting] because it is a joint effort between ground and aerial attack," Ms Hamblyn explained.

"'Aerial' is great for that initial first attack when you hear about a fire and you can launch those aircraft in 15 minutes and get on top of the fire very quickly."

"That initial first aggressive attack certainly does help contain those fires, and we want to keep those small fires small."

Two firefighters climbing out of an airborne helicopter. — An airborne firefighting team prepares to rappel from a firefighting helicopter.(Supplied: FFMVic)

Command and control

Victoria's firefighting effort involves multiple agencies, including DEECA, Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic), Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV), and the Country Fire Authority (CFA).

Personnel from each are trained to the same standard and operate under the same Incident Control System, allowing any to take the lead depending upon where the fire is and who is available.

Emergency Management Victoria's State Air Desk, commanded by a senior air operations coordinator, is responsible for dispatching the aircraft in the event of a fire or other emergency.

Once in the air, the air attack supervisor, usually operating from a helicopter hovering hundreds of metres above the fire front, will then coordinate up to 38 aircraft on one fire.

Night view of aircrew memeber and instruments aboard a helicopter. — An air attack supervision chopper undergoing night operations.(Supplied)

DEECA senior aviation operations officer Bryan Rees was an air attack supervisor aboard an AS350 Squirrel during the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.

"On a bad fire day [you] will be getting turbulence, so you will be getting thumped around, and you will be working in smoke," he explained.

"You also have a lot of stress coming at you. You have communications coming at you from ground crews wanting air support to help them.

"You also have the pressure of seeing housing burning and having to prioritise protecting life ahead of property.

"Sometimes you must make a decision on the spot about whether you save one house or another one."

"You literally have to make those decisions very quickly, because it's a dynamic situation that's changing all the time, and you are trying to coordinate the aircraft, be mindful where they are, and you do it all in your head.

"There's no room for a whiteboard in a helicopter," he said.

Two helicopters flying in smoke during a bushfire. — Several helicopters attack the Bayindeen fires near Ben Nevis (Victoria) in 2024.(Supplied: FFMVic)

Top Guns

Flying a helicopter or small aircraft into the heart of a raging fire is not for the faint-hearted.

However, much is done to reduce the level of danger in what is an unpredictable environment.

View of a helicopter crewman from the second row of seats. — The air attack supervisor enjoys a birds-eye view of the fire front from the portside seat of a Squirrel helicopter.(Supplied: FFMVic)

"So much work goes into this flying: the safety protocols, agency procedures, CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) regulations. We absolutely run a safe operation," Ms Hamblyn said

Many of the pilots fight fires interstate and internationally, returning to south-east Australia for the hottest part of summer.

This season's roster includes pilots who fought fires in Queensland earlier this year, while others were in Greece.

Others spend the rest of the year as agricultural or commuter pilots.