The British government said on Thursday that Royal Air Force Chinook helicopters and A400M transport aircraft will be fitted with specialist firefighting equipment so the military can tackle wildfires from the sky for the first time, as ministers hosted the country's first wildfire summit after its hottest summer on record.

Source: GOV.UK

The package, announced by the government on GOV.UK, also creates a new Wildfires AI Unit inside the COBR National Situation Centre, bringing together universities, technology firms and government analysts to spot and fight fires faster, and promises closer work with the Met Office on wildfire forecasts and public warnings.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said defence would step up to support the emergency services as the wildfire threat grows. “This will see the RAF's Chinook helicopters and A400M aircraft equipped with new specialist firefighting equipment to enable them to tackle wildfires from the skies for the first time,” he said, in comments published by the government.

Communities Secretary Angela Rayner said this year's wildfires had been “unrelenting”, leaving a devastating impact on communities, homes and countryside, and that the government was taking immediate action while building a stronger national response. The Guardian reported that the plans also include funding for specialised protective gear for firefighters — put at £45 million (yaani about 4.5 crore pounds) — alongside the military aircraft deployment.

England's first wildfire action plan

Ministers said England will get its first Wildfire Action Plan, covering prevention, preparedness, response and recovery, and that London will work more closely with the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Companies including Airbus, Google and VodafoneThree attended the summit to set out how satellite monitoring, early-warning systems and aerial capability could help communities prepare.

This summer was the UK's hottest on record, and the Met Office has found that climate change made the extreme heat around 130 times more likely, the government said. Major fires this year swept areas including the Cairngorms in Scotland, the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland and the Rhinogydd mountains in Wales.

Earlier this week a parliamentary committee on environment, food and rural affairs warned that wildfires are now “part of our new reality” and called for Australian-style public awareness campaigns. The BBC reported that the prime minister hosted the summit to prepare for future blazes after the record summer.