COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Two Air Force Reserve C-130 aircraft carrying U.S. Forest Service Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems and a C-130 support aircraft departed Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., at 7:30 a.m. MDT, April 16, en route to Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas. U.S. Northern Command, at the request of the Department of State and the Mexican government, deployed the 302nd Airlift Wing aircraft and personnel in support of the Mexican government’s response to the wildfires in Northern Mexico. The MAFFS, which is owned and maintained by the U.S. Forest Service, is a pressurized self-contained firefighting system designed for installation in C-130 aircraft without structural modifications to the aircraft. The system is designed to air-drop fire-retardant chemicals onto wildfires.

Two Air Force Reserve C-130 aircraft carrying U.S. Forest Service Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems and a C-130 support aircraft departed Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., at 7:30 a.m. MDT, April 16, en route to Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas. U.S. Northern Command, at the request of the Department of State and the Mexican government, deployed the 302nd Airlift Wing aircraft and personnel in support of the Mexican government’s response to the wildfires in Northern Mexico.

The MAFFS, which is owned and maintained by the U.S. Forest Service, is a pressurized self-contained firefighting system designed for installation in C-130 aircraft without structural modifications to the aircraft. The system is designed to air-drop fire-retardant chemicals onto wildfires.