From the High Fens in the Belgian Ardennes to the island of Skyros in Greece: Europe is desperate for every drop of water to put an end to wildfires, but amphibious firefighting aircraft are, of course, also crucial for extinguishing large-scale forest fires.

Unfortunately, Europe is currently facing a severe and critical shortage of these water-bombing aircraft. The Brussels-based company Roadfour could play a crucial role in this regard.

For nearly ten years, it has been working on the Seagle, a new type of firefighting aircraft positioning itself in the market as a potential modern successor to the iconic Canadair.

In search of €200-300 million

“This summer’s major fires are really getting things moving,” says Gaëtan Du Four, CEO of Roadfour, in an interview with L’Avenir. “First, we need a customer. Then we need a group of customers to launch the program for 5, 10, or 20 Seagles.”

Based in Etterbeek, Brussels, the civil engineer and architect has been working for nearly a decade on the Seagle, an amphibious firefighting aircraft that could eventually replace the aging Canadair.

However, the start-up currently lacks a government contract – potentially from the military – and needs some 200 to 300 million euros to get the project off the ground.

The selling angle is also that the aircraft could be designed for dual use, with potential applications including maritime search and rescue, patrol, special operations, logistics, and the deployment of unmanned maritime systems.

Up to 12,000 liters of water per flight

The Seagle is a new, purpose-built, high-capacity amphibious firefighting aircraft developed using Siemens’ digital technologies. When a firefighting aircraft is deployed to combat wildfires, time and water are money: The greater the water capacity and the shorter the time between two water drops, the faster the fire can be contained.

Existing purpose-built firefighting aircraft drop about 6,000 liters of water per pass; some helicopters drop 4,000 liters and, in general, can refill their tanks within twelve seconds.

The Seagle, a twin-engine aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney engines, with an output of 5,000 pk, aims to make a difference and, in those twelve seconds, could carry and drop roughly 12,000 liters of water per flight – twice what the current, most widely used Canadair (DHC-215/415/515) can handle.

Fuselage with hydrofoils

Furthermore, the aircraft would be equipped with fly-by-wire controls, a modern cockpit with a canopy for better visibility, and state-of-the-art avionics and mission-specific water-drop targeting functionalities.

A notable technical feature is that the fuselage is equipped with hydrofoils, a technology well known in the sailing world,  which act as a buffer between the aerodynamic laws of flight and the hydrodynamics of cutting through water; the aircraft is designed to withstand up to 3,5 G to endure the turbulence encountered during major fires.

Branch in Ostend

Roadfour, which also collaborates with KU Leuven students on CFD simulations of takeoffs and landings, as well as with French composite and hydrofoil specialists such as AVEL, Multiplast, and VPLP Design, among others, has, for example, opened a branch at the North Sea Aviation Center in Ostend.

The plan is to establish the final assembly line for the Seagle there, which would eventually create about 450 direct and 450 indirect full-time jobs.

After all, if these plans come to fruition, the Seagle – a project that is also being showcased at major aviation trade shows, such as the Paris Air Show and JEC World – should be in widespread use by 2030, with an estimated 300 aircraft on order over the next twenty years.

Technically challenging

So, on paper, it all looks great, but there’s obviously a difference between developing an idea and turning it into a successful business model.

The advantage of Roadfour is that Europe is chronically dependent on an outdated, small fleet of Canadair aircraft, a fact that became painfully clear again this summer during the wildfires in Spain, France, and the High Fens in Belgium.

There is currently a demand for about 300 firefighting aircraft in Europe. The EU itself is investing in a permanent fleet of helicopters and Canadair aircraft, but the fleet won’t be operational until 2030, which is exactly the gap Roadfour aims to fill.

Still, there is also reason for some caution: Taking on twice as much water in the same amount of time requires a much higher scoop flow rate and places even greater demands on the hull structure during scooping. Hence the hydrofoil innovation and the 3,5 G structural strength that Roadfour mentions, which is technically much more challenging than simply “the same aircraft with a larger tank.”

Aircraft development and certification are also extremely time-consuming. It typically takes ten to fifteen years, or more, to go from concept to an operational aircraft.

2030 is an ambitious target for a completely new design featuring innovative elements, such as hydrofoils, which have never been used in a firefighting aircraft. So, the mid-2030s seem more realistic, also since there isn’t a prototype yet.

Fierce competition

What’s more, the competition isn’t standing still either. For example, the Greek company Marcos Aerospace – although everything is still in the preliminary design phase – is working on the Quencher, a fully uncrewed amphibious firefighting aircraft. That one is not only lighter and cheaper but also can fly at night, something manned Canadairs cannot do due to safety risks.

Although the water capacity is only 4,500 liters, a single operator can control up to five aircraft simultaneously using AI-assisted navigation, automatic mission management, and swarm coordination.

Then there is also the AG600 ‘Kunlong’, a larger Chinese amphibious aircraft capable of carrying up to 12,000 liters, which received its type certificate in April 2025 after more than 15 years of development.

It was explicitly developed with the international market in mind, but due to its origin and geopolitical considerations, this aircraft is unlikely to be of interest to European governments.

The same applies to the Russian Beriev Be-200 – the only jet-powered amphibious firefighting aircraft, which also has a capacity of 12,000 liters. Additionally, the aircraft is powered by Ukrainian Progress D-436TP engines, and deliveries have been suspended since 2014, delaying production.

French Fregate-F100

In Europe, there is also Hynaero’s French Fregate-F100, aCS-25 amphibian particularly close to Seagle conceptually: targeting a 10-ton payload and about 250 knots. It has received French/France 2030 and regional support but is still fundraising, with service targeted for 2031.

Perhaps even more telling is Kepplair’s approach. Instead of designing a completely new seaplane, it is converting an existing ATR 72 into the 7.5-ton Kepplair 72.

It says a prototype aircraft is arriving in Toulouse in summer 2026, drop tests are planned before the end of this year, and it has received €5 million in French/Occitanie public backing. Its targeted entry into service is 2027.

And then, of course, there’s De Havilland Canada itself – the company that acquired Bombardier’s Canadair division. It is currently focusing heavily on the Canadair 515, the successor of the CL-215/CL-415.

Just like that aircraft, it can refill its tanks in twelve seconds using fresh or saltwater and can drop up to 700,000 liters of water per day – it has a tank capacity of around 7,000 liters.

About 22 aircraft, with a list price of 35 million euros, are currently under construction for a group of European customers, according to some French sources. In June, France doubled its order by adding two more aircraft as part of a joint EU procurement program. Delivery is expected later this decade or in early 2030.

Niche market

The firefighting aircraft market is an extremely niche, limited-size market. The global market for firefighting aircraft is estimated at approximately 8,3 billion dollars in 2026, growing to 11,6 billion dollars by 2031 – a single Boeing or Airbus program alone costs tens of billions.

For an amphibious scoop aircraft, it is difficult to meet both aviation certification and shipbuilding-like requirements simultaneously.

This includes hulls capable of withstanding impact with water during repeated scooping runs, corrosion resistance in saltwater, and so on. It is technically more complex to develop than a conventional aircraft and therefore requires highly specialized expertise.

Furthermore, unlike Roadfour, De Havilland Canada has decades of operational experience and a well-established maintenance and training ecosystem across dozens of fire departments worldwide. This means that, as a newcomer, you won’t be able to break through that undisputed market dominance anytime soon.