Six Black Hawk Helicopters Enter First Operational Wildfire Season as Portugal Braces for a Difficult Summer

Portugal's Air Force will deploy its new fleet of six UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for firefighting operations this summer for the first time, marking a step change in the country's aerial wildfire response after the devastating 2025 fire season.

The six aircraft — operated by Esquadra 551 Panteras from Ovar Air Base in northern Portugal — will carry Bambi Bucket and Bambi Max water-drop systems, each capable of delivering approximately 3,000 litres of water per sortie via longline. The fleet reached initial operational capability in late 2025 and is now cleared for its first full fire season.

A Fleet Built From Scratch

The programme began in 2022 when the Portuguese Air Force signed a EUR 43 million contract with Arista Aviation Services — now United Aero Group — in Alabama for six remanufactured UH-60A Black Hawks. Three additional modernised UH-60L models were ordered from Ace Aeronautics in 2024, expanding the future fleet to nine airframes.

The sixth helicopter was delivered to Ovar on 21 February 2026. The UH-60Ls are fitted with the Ace Deck G5000H avionics suite, touchscreen cockpit controls, georeferenced instrument flight rules approach charts, satellite communications, and in-flight weather data with colour radar — giving Portuguese pilots capabilities their ageing fleet of Alouette IIIs never had.

Why It Matters Now

Portugal's government has warned of a "very tough" summer ahead. The National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) is developing artificial intelligence workflows to determine optimal resource deployment, and teams anticipate needing to battle between 80 and 120 forest fires daily during the peak season.

The Black Hawks complement a broader wildfire strategy announced earlier this year, which includes a EUR 150 million programme to deploy shepherds and managed livestock grazing as a frontline fuel-reduction measure. Together, the aerial and ground-level approaches represent Portugal's most comprehensive wildfire preparedness effort in a generation.

What Comes Next

Full operational capability for the Panteras squadron is targeted for November 2027, by which time all nine Black Hawks should be flying. The Portuguese Air Force has also expressed interest in acquiring further rotary-wing assets as climate change lengthens and intensifies the fire season across southern Europe.

For residents in rural and fire-prone areas, the new fleet means faster response times and greater water-delivery capacity — particularly in the mountainous north, where the Ovar base gives the helicopters direct access to the country's most fire-susceptible terrain.