Even With Half Set to Ground Next Year, Huge Firefighting Chopper Project Hits Another Snag

[Anchor]

As we reported in a series last month, the Korea Forest Service's project to introduce extra-large firefighting helicopters has been rocky from the start. The first helicopter turned out to be a decades-old refurbished military aircraft rather than a new model, and its delivery was postponed to next year. Now, it has been confirmed that even the second unit, which was scheduled to arrive as early as next month, will miss its delivery deadline.

Reporter Jang Min-seong has this exclusive report.

[Reporter]

This is the second extra-large firefighting helicopter that the Korea Forest Service contracted with a U.S. company.

It is a 1967 military helicopter previously used by the U.S. military that has been remanufactured for firefighting purposes, with a price tag of 44.7 billion won for a single unit.

Originally scheduled to be brought in by November 30, it was confirmed that the company informed the Korea Forest Service last month that it would not be able to meet the delivery deadline.

The company wants to delay delivery by seven months, to the end of June next year.

The reason reportedly is that the aircraft failed to receive safety certifications from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which are mandatory conditions, and that it is difficult to meet the manufacturing schedule.

The problem is that this does not end with just the second unit.

The first unit is supposed to arrive by June next year and the third unit by December next year, but there is no guarantee that the certification process, which typically takes several years, will be completed by then.

With the delivery of the first unit already delayed by a year and a half, and now the second unit also delayed, the timely introduction of the remaining five helicopters has become uncertain.

Despite this situation, the Korea Forest Service has not even secured specific information to verify the company's minimum contractual performance capabilities, such as its financial status or actual manufacturing progress.

Without even figuring out how much the certification will be delayed, it is virtually relying only on the company's side of the story.

[Kim Man-ju / Head of the Korea Forest Aviation Headquarters (August): "In the current situation, if you (the U.S. company) fail, the notice we gave is a penalty for delay unconditionally. If you cannot deliver the second unit...."]

The Korea Forest Service sent a letter urging the company to fulfill the contract, stating that if the contract conditions are not met, it will review not only recovering the deposit but also canceling the contract.

However, criticism is inevitable that sloppy contract management brought the project's instability upon itself.

(Photo: Seol Min-hwan | Video Editing: Kim Jong-tae | Design: Choi Jae-young, Kim Min-young, Byun Da-young | VJ: Kim Jun-ho | Data provided by the office of Rep. Seo Sam-seok, Chairperson of the National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee | Video provided by Columbia Helicopters YouTube | YouTube and SNS sources: Jarasum Younggu, Jirisan Sancheongsari, Bichawa Naltul, Film Master)

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[Anchor]

While setbacks plague the introduction of extra-large helicopters, even the existing mainstay helicopters that patrolled wildfire sites are coming to a halt. An internal diagnosis by the Korea Forest Service showed that more than half of its main fleet will likely be unable to fly by next year.

Why this is happening and what countermeasures exist, reporter Lee Hyun-jung brings us the exclusive report next.

[Reporter]

The Korea Forest Service currently operates 49 firefighting helicopters, and nearly 60% of them—29 units—are Russian-made KA-32 helicopters known as Kamovs.

With a water tank capacity of 3,000 liters, they are a core frontline model, but most of them have grown old, having been introduced 20 to 30 years ago.

Compounding this, supply routes for parts have been cut off in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, leaving seven units already grounded.

The bigger problem lies ahead.

According to the Korea Forest Service's own projections on future operations, grounded helicopters will increase to 15 next year, exceeding half of the core fleet, and after three years, 27 units, and after five years, all 29 units will become inoperable.

This is because U.S. financial sanctions against Russia prevent South Korea from purchasing 9 out of 11 core parts, including engines, from Russia.

If a large number of mainstay helicopters are grounded, the water-carrying capacity—the core force for extinguishing wildfires—will plummet, inevitably leaving a huge void in responding to large-scale wildfires.

As the emergency approaches, the Korea Forest Service has not established concrete mid-to-long-term response plans to additionally purchase or lease helicopters.

Its stance is that if it becomes difficult to deliver extra-large helicopters by next spring, it will increase the leasing of overseas helicopters or the utilization of helicopters from domestic related organizations, but there are many hurdles to clear, such as securing additional budget and inter-agency consultations.

[Seo Sam-seok / Chairperson of the National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee (Democratic Party): "Public safety cannot be protected with patchwork administration. We must thoroughly reexamine the overall helicopter introduction project and promptly establish mid-to-long-term measures to cope with gaps in wildfire suppression."]

The introduction of new helicopters has hit a snag from the first step, and existing mainstays face the risk of being grounded due to sanctions, putting the Korea Forest Service's wildfire response capabilities to a comprehensive test.

(Photo: Seol Min-hwan | Video Editing: Kim Jong-tae | Design: Choi Jae-young, Kim Min-young, Byun Da-young | VJ: Kim Jun-ho | Data provided by the office of Rep. Seo Sam-seok, Chairperson of the National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee | Video provided by Columbia Helicopters YouTube | YouTube and SNS sources: Jarasum Younggu, Jirisan Sancheongsari, Bichawa Naltul, Film Master)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.