France is battling major wildfires with a core tool critics say belongs in a museum. The country's 12 Canadair water bombers—aged 19 to 32 years—have been so often sidelined for repairs that, at one point last weekend, only five were available as fires burned more than 100,000 acres near Bordeaux, the region's worst blaze since 1949, the Wall Street Journal reports. A Canadair pilot called the situation "outrageous," while a lawmaker said France had "lost a crazy amount of time" renewing its fleet.
France also has Dash 8 water-bombing planes, but they need to be refilled on the ground while the Canadair planes, designed for fighting wildfires, can scoop up more than 1,500 gallons of water in seconds by gliding along lakes. President Emmanuel Macron had promised in 2022 to overhaul and expand the Canadair lineup by 2027, but only four new planes have been ordered, with the first not expected until 2028 due to manufacturer bottlenecks and French budget cuts, the Journal reports.
Officials say they've deployed everything they can, adding Dash 8s, rented aircraft, and even a modified A400M military transport. After a request for help, the European Union sent seven planes and four helicopters from several countries, though other EU members, including Spain and Greece, are also fighting major wildfires. AFP reports that building the Canadair planes is a time-consuming process, with De Havilland's factory in Canada only able to produce around 10 of the aircraft a year. The previous maker, Bombardier, halted production in 2015 and production wasn't restarted until an order for 22 planes for European countries was placed in 2024. The company now has orders for 40 aircraft.
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