A 302nd Airlift Wing, Air Force Reserve Command, C-130 Hercules is scheduled to present a live-water, aerial demonstration drop upon its arrival to the 2009 EAA AirVenture on Monday, July 27 at Oshkosh, Wis.
The water drop demo will showcase the capabilities of the U.S. Forest Service’s new Military Airborne Firefighting System equipment used by the Air Force Reserve. The ‘MAFFS II’ unit uses state-of-the-art technology which features several improvements to the aging legacy MAFFS system. MAFFS II enables C-130 tactical cargo aircraft to conduct more efficient firefighting operations from the air. This is the first year Air Force Reserve aircrews and maintainers have been certified with, and will use the new equipment.
“This equipment is the future of aerial firefighting,” said Lt. Col. David Condit, 302nd Airlift Wing Chief of Safety and MAFFS program manager.
C-130s equipped with MAFFS can drop up to 3,000 gallons of retardant to contain wildland fires in just a few seconds. There are eight MAFFS units available for use with military C-130 aircraft. The military aircraft are activated through U.S. Northern Command, based on an agreement with the Department of Agriculture.
The 302nd Airlift Wing is the only Air Force Reserve unit tasked with the MAFFS mission, making up for 25 percent of the overall military C-130 MAFFS capability. The 302nd AW takes on the MAFFS responsibility, while continuing to perform its primary mission of tactical airlift and airdrop. Additional MAFFS capability comes from three Air National Guard C-130 units.