FIREHAWK: Transforming Firefighting in Türkiye with Day-and-Night Precision

Wildfires are not new to Türkiye, but the scale and intensity of recent fire seasons mark a turning point. According to the General Directorate of Forestry (OGM), annual wildfire incidents rose from roughly 2,950 in 2020 to nearly 3,800 in 2024. With a fire season stretching from May to October, communities face ever-greater risk as urban development pushes further into forested and rural areas.

Today, Türkiye’s aerial firefighting fleet relies on a mix of OGM’s own fleet and contracted helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, many equipped with buckets. These assets are powerful but limited: they must often fly long distances to refill, limit the speed of the aircraft, operate only in daylight, and are focused solely on suppression. In contrast, international experience shows that the future of wildfire response lies in multi-mission helicopters capable of day-and-night operations, rapid initial attack, and integrated rescue capability.

At the forefront of this shift is the FIREHAWK®, built and exclusively integrated by United Rotorcraft, in partnership with Sikorsky, on the proven and venerable UH-60/S-70 Black Hawk platform.

Built for Fire, Rescue, and Survival

The FIREHAWK® is not just another helicopter with a water tank, it is a purpose-engineered aerial firefighting system designed for precision, speed, and safety.

At its core is the FIREHAWK® system, comprised of:

High landing gear for rugged operations and obstacle clearance.

An externally mounted 3,785 L-gallon fixed tank that can be refilled in less than one minute, either by hover-snorkeling from multiple, varying water depths and sources or through ground fill ports located on both sides.

Control and monitoring systems with Macro Blue displays that give pilots real-time awareness of drop volume, pattern, and tank status.

A built-in environmental clean-out system that prevents cross-contamination between water sources.

Wire-strike protection integrated into both the high landing gear and the tank assembly.

The FIREHAWK® incorporates a retractable snorkel, a critical innovation that allows the aircraft to maintain higher airspeeds, between 130 and 150 mph, while en-route to fire incidents. Unlike extended snorkels or external buckets, which restrict speed and increase risk, the retractable design reduces exposure to terrain or obstacles, offering a higher safety margin for the crew.

Perhaps most important is the precision of the system. The depth of the external tank, combined with computer-controlled drop doors, ensures that water penetrates dense foliage and hits its target with both force and accuracy. Unlike conventional buckets, the FIREHAWK® delivers a more concentrated suppression exactly where it’s needed.

Every element of the FIREHAWK® system is designed to enhance safety, reducing pilot workload, improving situational awareness, and enabling crews to operate confidently even in complex, high-risk conditions.

This system integration, combined with the platform’s multi-mission cabin (supporting hoist rescues, medevac, and crew transport), is what elevates the FIREHAWK® far beyond conventional bucket-equipped helicopters. It is a comprehensive wildfire response solution rather than a single-role tool.

Night Firefighting: Closing the Gap

While many aerial assets are grounded after sunset, FIREHAWK® operators in California and beyond have shown that the night hours are the most decisive window for wildfire suppression. At night, winds typically calm, temperatures drop, and humidity rises, creating optimal conditions to halt a fire’s advance.

With night vision goggle (NVG) capability, advanced terrain awareness systems, and wire-strike avoidance sensors, the FIREHAWK® is one of the few platforms proven to fight fires effectively and safely through the night. This round-the-clock capability has become a true force multiplier, allowing crews to stop fires at their most vulnerable stage before they can escalate at sunrise.

For Türkiye, where densely populated coastal towns and tourist resorts often sit at the wildland-urban interface, night firefighting could mean the difference between containment and catastrophe.

Initial Attack: The First 15 Minutes

FIREHAWK® operators emphasize that speed and precision in the first minutes of a wildfire are critical. Dropping water within the first 10 to 15 minutes of ignition offers the best chance of preventing a small blaze from escalating into a regional crisis.

Buckets and large tankers, while valuable, cannot always respond quickly or deliver precision drops in rugged terrain. The FIREHAWK® ’s integrated tank, high speed and maneuverability give firefighters the ability to strike early and decisively, suppressing fires before they spiral out of control.

United Rotorcraft: Delivering the Advantage

For United Rotorcraft, the FIREHAWK® is more than just a program, it’s a legacy built in partnership with the men and women who rely on it in the world’s toughest conditions. As the exclusive completion center, UR occupies a unique position: able to secure delivery slots directly with Sikorsky or source legacy Black Hawks and transform them into fully capable FIREHAWK® aircraft. This allows us to move faster than any other player in the market, delivering aircraft ahead of schedule and under a single contract as a Direct Commercial Sale. Alternatively, if a customer already operates the Black Hawk, UR can perform a dedicated tank integration—another pathway to unlock FIREHAWK®-level firefighting capability without requiring an entirely new aircraft.

What makes the journey even more meaningful is our ability to take this work beyond the U.S., cultivating local expertise and developing capability wherever our partners are based.

With more than two decades of proven service since its first delivery in 1998, the FIREHAWK® has become the gold standard in aerial firefighting, safe, effective, and endlessly versatile. Today, 33 FIREHAWK® aircraft have been contracted with U.S. agencies, and the Colombian Air Force has stepped forward as the first international customer on contract, a milestone that highlights the aircraft’s growing global appeal. Los Angeles County alone has logged over 21,500 flight hours, and the combined fleet is flying more than 5,000 hours every year—proof of a platform trusted to perform day after day, fire after fire.

As wildfires intensify across regions like the Mediterranean, the FIREHAWK®’s story is still being written. The question is no longer whether this aircraft can change the fight against fire—it already has. The opportunity now lies with nations like Türkiye, where adopting the FIREHAWK® could mark the beginning of a new chapter: one defined by speed, precision, and the power to fight fires not just by day, but through the night.”— Alexandra Slabutu, Regional Sales Manager at United Rotorcraft, who has been showcasing the FIREHAWK® internationally for over four years.