Toulouse: Kepplair Evolution and Corsica Technics, a maintenance company based in Bastia, Corsica, have announced the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) regarding the acquisition of 10 conversion kits for the KEPPLAIR 72 – “The Forest Keeper”, a multi-role water bomber aircraft developed from the ATR 72 platform.
With this LOI, Corsica Technics aims, against a backdrop of increasingly frequent forest fires, to equip ATR 72 aircraft for aerial fire-fighting missions, in order to provide its customers with a practical and rapidly deployable solution.
By converting ATR 72s using the kit developed by Kepplair Evolution, Corsica Technics will benefit from the KEDS (Kepplair Evolution Delivery System) system – developed exclusively by the Toulouse Institute of Fluid Mechanics (IMFT) and Trotter Controls, both international leaders in the research, design and manufacture of water-dropping systems for firefighting aircraft.
Based on a rigorous scientific approach applied to the design of drop systems, the KEDS offers a high level of operational performance on the ground whilst ensuring optimal control over the consumption costs of the delayed-release products dropped. This unique expertise enables Kepplair Evolution to establish itself as a leading international player in the analysis of drop performance and the prediction of ground impact patterns, thereby contributing to a more efficient and precise use of aerial fire-fighting resources.
For Corsica Technics, this approach is part of an aeronautical development strategy centred on new capabilities for conversion, integration and technical support, in line with its ambition to make Bastia Airport a strategic maintenance hub in the Mediterranean. By adopting a pragmatic, innovative and rapidly deployable European solution, the company is addressing major operational challenges for regions at risk of wildfires.
Jean-Marc Cristelli, President of Corsica Technics, explained, “This partnership with Kepplair Evolution opens up some particularly promising operational opportunities. The KEPPLAIR 72 is based on a well-established, robust and readily available platform, with a conversion concept that meets current market needs. Corsica Technics wishes to capitalise on this momentum by drawing on its roots in the aviation sector and its ability to support the development of new solutions for civil protection. This initiative is also
part of our plan for a modern, sustainable MRO facility that is fully integrated into the island’s economic fabric, designed as a strategic infrastructure serving Corsica.”
David Joubert, President and founder of Kepplair Evolution, welcoming this further vote of confidence in the KEPPLAIR 72 programme, commented, “This commitment from Corsica Technics, a recognised player in aircraft maintenance and conversion, further strengthens the credibility of our project. We share their conviction that we must offer concrete, robust and rapidly deployable solutions in the face of the evolving risk of forest fires, and we are delighted to be able to contribute, with the KEPPLAIR 72, to firefighting efforts.”
Based on the thoroughly proven ATR 72 platform and on a global maintenance network, the KEPPLAIR 72 is a multi-role aircraft: beyond its aim of providing a solution tailored to the needs of governments, private operators, local authorities and civil protection agencies in the fight against forest fires, it also offers versatile, year-round use, thanks to its ability to carry out cargo transport and medical evacuation missions.
To date, the KEPPLAIR 72 programme has 18 aircraft or kits covered by Letters of Intent, and Kepplair Evolution is preparing for the arrival of its prototype aircraft this summer, with the aim of conducting the first flights and the first drop tests by the end of the year.
With this LOI, Kepplair Evolution and Corsica Technics are affirming a shared ambition: to help strengthen aerial capabilities for combating forest fires, whilst developing an innovative, realistic and sustainable European solution.
