It’s an exciting day here at De Havilland Canada as we celebrate the conclusion of contract negotiations for 22 new waterbomber aircraft.
The deal is now official, after contract negotiations with leaders from the European Commission, Government of Canada, EU Member States, and DHC wrapped up today in Brussels, Belgium.
As part of the event, we also announced that the name of the DHC-515 Firefighter would be changing to the De Havilland Canadair 515.
Why the name change?
The Canadairs have a long and heroic history across the continent, and we’re honouring that heritage with the new name. When a wildfire is closing in, people ask when the Canadairs will come to help protect their community. We are proud to recognize that history of service of the Canadair fleet by officially renaming the aircraft the “De Havilland Canadair 515.”
But now that the ink is dry on the contracts, we’ve got some work to do. “Today is a big day as it marks the end of discussion and the commencement of production moving into high gear,” said Brian Chafe. “European countries have put their trust in DHC, and it’s up to all of us to deliver the aircraft to them safely and on time.”
To celebrate the event, we’ve released a new video outlining the production of the aircraft, as well as an image of a re-branded De Havilland Canadair 515 in rescEU livery.
Team: News