Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has been tasked with tackling wildfires. Babak Taghvaee examines how their role has grown as incidents increase
The Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Corps (IRGCASF) started to conduct aerial firefighting operations back in 2011 at the request of the Iranian Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization (FRWMO).
For this purpose, a firefighting package was designed and installed in the cargo hold of an Aerospace Force Ilyushin Il-76TD heavy transport aircraft.
IRGCASF has used its Mi-171 helicopters, equipped with Bambi Buckets, and Il-76TDs equipped with the firefighting kits, for tackling blazes at home, as well as in countries such as Georgia, Pakistan, Syria and Turkey.
