Airbus awarded $25M contract for Nova Scotia's new water bombers

Nova Scotia is getting its new wildfire fighting helicopters from aerospace company Airbus.

The new water bombers will replace the fleet of four helicopters that helped fight devastating wildfires in Nova Scotia in 2023.

Those helicopters havereached the point where they're needing increased maintenance, which led to the province's decision to purchase new aircraft.

"It was coming to that maintenance schedule where it was going to cost a lot of money," said Tory Rushton, minister of natural resources and renewables.

The contract is valued at about $25 million, although the province plans to sell its existing helicopters to bring down the overall cost.

Nova Scotia and the federal government are investing $25.6 million over five years for training and equipment to fight wildfires, including helicopters.

The province said the agreement is in its third year and fire trucks, pumps, hoses and other equipment have already been purchased.

"We know the wildfire seasons are going to be longer and more severe fires, so this was a good agreement and a good relationship," Rushton said.

• Nova Scotia saw its most devastating wildfire season on record in 2023

The department is pleased with the performance of its current Airbus H125 helicopters, so it is replacing them with the same model with upgraded safety features.

It said while fighting fires, the helicopters can scoop and dump water on a faster rotation than fixed-wing aircraft as well as being able to draw water from smaller water bodies.

In addition to fightingfires, the helicopters areused in a number of other ways, including search and rescue efforts as well asaerial surveillance.

It is expected the first new helicopter will arrive next summer.