Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act of 2025
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This law reauthorizes the Department of Defense to sell excess military aircraft and parts for wildfire suppression through October 1, 2035, and expands their allowed use to dropping water, not just fire retardant.
It also removes a prior limit that had restricted these purchased aircraft from being used to help fight wildfires internationally, giving buyers more flexibility to deploy them domestically and abroad.
What this law does
What it does
The law amends the Wildfire Suppression Aircraft Transfer Act of 1996 to extend, through October 1, 2035, the Department of Defense's authority to sell excess aircraft and aircraft parts that are otherwise suitable for commercial sale to buyers who will use them for wildfire suppression. It expands the permitted use of such aircraft to include delivering water by air, in addition to the previously authorized fire retardant. The law also revises the restriction on how sold aircraft may be used, replacing narrower language with a requirement that they be used only for aircraft services for wildfire suppression purposes, which removes the earlier limitation confining international wildfire assistance. It does not create a new sales program or appropriate new funds; it modifies and reauthorizes an existing DOD sale authority.
Key provisions
- 1Reauthorizes Department of Defense sales of excess aircraft and parts for wildfire suppression from enactment until October 1, 2035.
- 2Expands permitted aircraft use to include delivering water by air, in addition to fire retardant.
- 3Revises the use restriction on sold aircraft to require use only for aircraft services for wildfire suppression purposes, eliminating the prior limit on international assistance.
Who is affected
The Department of Defense, which conducts the aircraft sales; private companies and government entities that purchase surplus military aircraft for aerial firefighting; and wildfire response agencies domestically and internationally that may benefit from expanded water- and retardant-delivery capacity.
Why it matters
Buyers of surplus military aircraft gain a decade-long window to acquire firefighting-capable planes, and can now use them to drop water as well as retardant. Removing the international-use restriction means these aircraft could support wildfire response beyond U.S. borders, potentially expanding available firefighting capacity worldwide.
What changed
Changes to existing law
Reauthorizes Wildfire Suppression Aircraft Transfer Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-307; 10 U.S.C. 2576 note) (Sec. 2)
Extends DOD's authority to sell excess aircraft and parts for wildfire suppression through October 1, 2035, and expands permitted uses.
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Period during which DOD may sell aircraft/parts for wildfire suppression
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Became Public Law No: 119-18.
Official CRS summary
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This act reauthorizes the Department of Defense to sell its excess aircraft and aircraft parts that are acceptable for commercial sale for wildfire suppression purposes. Such authority begins June 12, 2025, and ends October 1, 2035.
The act also provides that such aircraft may be used to deliver water by air in order to suppress wildfire (the previous authority only provided for the delivery of fire retardant).
The act removes the previous limitation on providing international wildfire suppression assistance with such purchased aircraft.
Legislative subjects
Armed Forces and National Security; Aviation and airports; Fires; Forests, forestry, trees; Military assistance, sales, and agreements