Chopper squad

Ex-military helicopters capable of deployment in under five minutes and able to drop more than 4000 litres of water or retardant could bolster SA’s year-round aerial firefighting capability in an Australian first.
The first of two refitted ex-US military Black Hawk helicopters arrived at Brukunga’s Claremont Airbase earlier this year to fill a “gap in capability” in the nation’s firefighting response.
A second is expected to be shipped from the US at the end of the month.
The $4m aircraft are the first helicopters of their kind to be owned and operated within Australia, purchased from the US by the SA-based aviation company Aerotech, which provides most of the State’s aerial firefighting fleet.