French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has ordered the armed forces to deploy an A400M military transport aircraft as early as Saturday to help combat fires raging in the southwest, his office said.
Hundreds of firefighters have spent the past few days battling blazes in the southwestern department of Gironde, where the fires are particularly intense, as well as near the town of Biscarrosse in the neighbouring department of Landes.
The ministries of interior and defence have signed a joint agreement with Airbus to make available and equip, on an experimental basis, an A400M aircraft with an aerial firefighting kit to help France douse the blazes.
The aircraft is to be equipped with a dispensing kit that can release 20 tonnes of fire retardant, equivalent to the capacity of two Dash firefighting aircraft.
Its deployment had previously been scheduled for the end of the month due to preparations and testing.
"The A400M will be deployed ahead of advancing fires to help secure the most vulnerable areas," the interior ministry said in a statement this week.
"The operational use of an A400M in this configuration requires technical preparation, flight testing and the qualification of military crews, a process that began on July 20."
The wildfires in Gironde and Landes have forced the evacuation of more than 140,000 people and have already consumed 22,000 hectares (54,000 acres) of land.
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