#A34 Air Tractor AT-802A Fire Boss
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. A34 - SE-MHM, Air Tractor AT-802A Fire Boss, Saab AB - Special Flight Oreations.
Saab’s Special Flight Operations (SFO) has been developed to perform specialised flight operations. The assignments have mainly been to conduct training for the Swedish Armed Forces, including Aerial Target Towing and Electronic Warfare training. The missions are classified as high-risk operations as we fly in units, often at low altitude with towed targets, towards military firing units both at sea, in the air and on the ground. The current organisation has been delivering these services for almost four decades. The aircraft mainly used are Learjet 35 and Mitsubishi MU-2. When Saab in 2019 decided to broaden its operations within SFO to make better use of the available resources and infrastructure, it was natural to look at a new type of business, never done in Sweden before. The choice naturally fell on firefighting with smaller scooping aircraft. The main reason for this was the large forest fires we have seen in Sweden in recent years. These fires made it clear that Sweden needed more capability within aerial firefighting. In addition, building such an ability would fit very well into Saab’s vision; “It’s a human right to feel safe”. Consequently, a new Air Tractor AT-802 Fire Boss was acquired in 2019. The aircraft is equipped with a float stand from Wipaire, which allows landing on both normal runways and water. The Fire Boss can scoop 3000 litres of water from nearby sea, lake or larger watercourses, making it a very efficient toll in fighting forest fires. The aircraft is manufactured in the USA and was delivered by Air Tractor Europe, Spain. In 2020, Saab received its first contract with the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, MSB. On June 3, 2020, the operations were inaugurated by the Swedish Minister of Home Affairs, Mikael Damberg, at our home base at Skavsta Airport in Nyköping, By then, the organization had been expanded to two aircraft which, in addition to strengthening Swedish firefighting capabilities, also included the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, rescEU.