The UK government plans to equip Royal Air Force (RAF) Chinook helicopters and A400M aircraft for wildfire response, adding military aerial firefighting support for services across all four nations.
The announcement on Thursday, Oct. 22, said the capability would be permanently based in the UK. Fire and rescue services in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can seek military support under the Military Aid to the Civil Authorities process. The aircraft are intended to help crews fight fires in remote areas, including moorland and steep slopes. Officials have not disclosed the fleet size, equipment specifications, a budget for the aircraft capability or when it will become operational.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said, “Military aircraft will stand ready to help tackle wildfires from the sky.”
The government also announced up to £45 million for specialist wildfire teams and protective equipment for frontline firefighters in England. It set out £25 million for restoring dried-out peatlands in England and financial support for farmers’ fire-prevention measures, without specifying an amount for the farmer support. Natural England is expected to run the Peatland Restoration Grant Scheme from April 2027 to April 2029.
The announcement follows a Sept. 8 written answer in which the Ministry of Defence said it had no plans to adapt the RAF’s A400M fleet or acquire dedicated water-bombing helicopters or equipment. The ministry said the military maintained a helicopter firefighting capability in Cyprus for overseas obligations.
The Met Office’s Sept. 1 assessment put the UK’s mean temperature for June to August 2026 at 16.5 degrees Celsius, provisionally the highest in its records dating to 1884. Its study estimated that human-caused climate change made a summer with a mean temperature like 2026’s about 130 times more likely. That estimate concerned the likelihood of the temperature pattern, not wildfire risk.
In a report published Wednesday, Oct. 21, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee cited gaps in specialist capacity and reliance on local arrangements as preparedness concerns. The report said Natural Resources Wales had told the committee that aircraft available through its existing contracts were already committed elsewhere during major fires in North and South Wales. The committee recommended that the government publish a detailed implementation plan by January 2027.
