Two French Canadairs are deployed in Portugal as part of the European Civil Protection Mechanism. Their scooping capability illustrates the central role of the amphibious fleet against wildfires. Credits: European Commission DG ECHO, CC BY-SA 2.0.
France has twelve Canadair CL-415 aircraft, but how many can it actually deploy when several fires break out at the same time? These French firefighting planes are central to the national response. A pilot said five aircraft were available on July 25, 2026. The next day, the Interior Minister announced seven. The controversy mainly reveals the gap between the theoretical fleet, day-to-day availability, and operational performance in the field. It also underscores that the investments will not produce results for several years.
Twelve Canadairs On Paper, Fewer In The Air
The Civil Security legacy fleet includes twelve Canadair CL-415s, eight Dash 8s, and three Beechcrafts. For the 2026 season, leased aircraft add to that total. The Senate budget report mentions six Air Tractors and ten heavy water-bombing helicopters. This total describes the means the state owns or can mobilize, not the number of planes ready to take off at the same time.
On July 25, Captain Grégory Prats told franceinfo that five of the twelve Canadairs were available. This air attack supervisor also explained that the operational aircraft were spread across several fires. A two-aircraft air attack on one fire seemed to him insufficient against the force of the blazes in Gironde and the Landes.
On the evening of July 26, Laurent Nuñez gave another snapshot on France 2’s 8 p.m. news. Seven Canadairs had been available to deploy during the day; the others were in maintenance. The figures of five and seven therefore do not describe the same date, nor necessarily the same operational definition. An aircraft can come out of maintenance, be technically available but assigned elsewhere, or be unable to reach a fire scene immediately.
This distinction also answers the question of where the Canadairs are in France. Their main base is in Nîmes-Garons, but the aircraft are pre-positioned or moved depending on the risk. Canadairs can be split between fires in Gironde and the Landes, in the Var, or in Corsica. The number available nationwide therefore does not correspond to the number gathered on a single front.
Availability Undermined By Maintenance
Pilots point to aircraft wear and tear, breakdowns, and delays in spare parts supply. On July 27, Éric Durand, a pilot and union representative, stated on RMC that two Canadairs were still in winter maintenance. He blames Sabena Technics for this delay and believes the roadmap agreed with Civil Security was not followed. This accusation remains the pilot’s own: as of July 27, no detailed public record made it possible to establish the cause of each aircraft being grounded.
On its page devoted to the Civil Security fleet, Sabena Technics says it mobilizes more than 150 people permanently at Nîmes-Garons. Around thirty additional staff are also mobilized during the fire season. The company presents its goal there as maximum availability of the twelve Canadairs, the eight Dash aircraft, and the three Beechcrafts. This communication, however, does not specifically address the July criticism and publishes neither daily availability rates nor an aircraft-by-aircraft schedule.
The problem predates the current crisis. A National Assembly report published on July 2, 2025 assessed the average age of French Canadairs at 30 years. It noted the effects of intensive use, corrosion caused by scooping, and spare-part shortages. The document also judged the results obtained in 2024 unsatisfactory. It pointed to a new roadmap concluded in 2025 between the DGSCGC and the maintainer.
These findings document a structural weakness, without being enough to assign each July 2026 breakdown to a single party. To settle the matter, it would be necessary to know each day the number of aircraft available with crews and where they were assigned. The nature of the maintenance operations and their duration would also be needed. Those consolidated data have not been made public.
A Bigger Budget That Does Not Measure Today’s Capacity
In response to criticism, the government highlights increased resources. The 2026 budget bill raised the commitment appropriations for program 161, “Civil Security,” to 994.9 million euros. That amount was 15.7% higher than the initial finance law for 2025. Payment appropriations reached 882.7 million euros, up 6.2%. These sums fund all national Civil Security resources: aircraft, helicopters, personnel, bomb disposal, alert systems, and other response capabilities.
A commitment appropriation sets the maximum amount the state may legally commit to a multi-year project. A payment appropriation corresponds to what can actually be paid during the year. Confusing the two would give a misleading picture of the financial effort. The same would be true of presenting the 994.9 million as a budget devoted only to Canadairs.
LFI lawmaker Aurélie Trouvé and Éric Ciotti, UDR mayor of Nice, accused successive governments of having cut resources. They were referring to wildfire response. Their statements, however, do not point to the same budget lines. They do not, by themselves, show a decrease in spending devoted to the fleet. Conversely, the overall increase in the program does not prove that more aircraft were immediately available during the July fires.
The most useful indicator would be cost relative to measurable operational capacity. It would include aircraft ready with crews, flight hours, rotations, and the actual volume dropped. Public documents detail the funding and the composition of the fleet, but not that daily dashboard.
The A400M Brings Volume, But Not Yet A Full Comparison
A military A400M equipped with a drop kit was deployed in Gironde on July 25. It can carry about 20,000 liters of water or retardant, compared with 6,000 liters for a Canadair. Comparing these drop capacities alone is still insufficient. The military aircraft must return to a ground base to be refilled. A Canadair can scoop water from a suitable body of water near the fire.
Grégory Prats therefore believes that a four-Canadair cycle can deliver far more water per hour when turnaround times are short. His calculation, however, depends on the distance to the water source, the weather, the terrain, and the airspace. The chosen tactic also matters. Official data on sorties, turnaround times, and tonnage dropped by the A400M are lacking. It is therefore impossible to measure its performance precisely during the crisis.
The A400M is therefore a high-capacity backup resource, not a direct replacement for the amphibious Canadair. Dash aircraft, Air Tractors, helicopters, and European reinforcements also serve different missions. Adding up the aircraft is not enough: their effectiveness depends on the type of fire, their position, and the ability to chain drops.
The New Canadairs Will Not Arrive For Several Years
The renewal underway cannot solve the immediate strain. Two DHC-515s, the new generation made by De Havilland Canada, were ordered in 2024 in a program co-financed by the European Union. The Senate report projected their availability in March and November 2028, subject to European priorities and the industrial schedule.
The 2026 budget also provided 209 million euros in commitment appropriations for two additional aircraft. It also included 20 million euros in payment appropriations. According to the DGSCGC cited by the Senate, their deliveries would take place between the end of 2032 and sometime in 2033. The restart of an industrial chain owned by a single supplier and the buildup of international orders explain these delays.
France therefore does indeed have twelve Canadairs in 2026, but that number only answers the question of ownership. During a multi-fire crisis, actual capacity depends on aircraft out of maintenance, crews, their distribution, and the pace of rotations. The orders and budget increases prepare future seasons. They do not replace daily indicators for assessing the means available today.
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