The event was held in Panama from September 10 to 12
Air Force Agency, by Lieutenant Eniele Santos
The Brazilian Air Force took part in the XLVIII Committee of the System of Cooperation between the American Air Forces (SICOFAA – Spanish: Sistema de Cooperación entre las Fuerzas Aéreas Americanas) and the Initial Planning Conference (IPC) for Exercise COOPERATION X, held in Panama City, the capital of Panama, between September 10 and 12. This event was an essential milestone for the joint planning of emergency response operations with a focus on firefighting training.
The Exercise is scheduled for March 2026 and will take place in Brazil, in the city of Campo Grande (MS), and will highlight cooperation between the American Air Forces in disaster situations.
During the conference, the operational and logistical aspects of COOPERATION X were defined, which will feature simulated firefighting operations using the Brazilian Air Force’s (FAB) KC-390 Millennium aircraft, equipped with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS 2), capable of launching large volumes of water and fire retardants. In this scenario, as in many others, the KC-390 has played a crucial role, reinforcing the ability to respond efficiently in natural disaster scenarios.
The exercise proposal was presented by the representative of the Aerospace Operations Command (COMAE) at the event, Major Diego Almeida Teixeira de Souza, based on lessons learned from real missions.
Major Teixeira has extensive experience in combating natural disasters, having been one of the coordinators of air operations during the dam collapse in Brumadinho (MG), the floods in Porto Alegre (RS) and the fires in the Pantanal in the state of Mato Grosso.
“Exercise COOPERATION is extremely important for improving our response capacity in natural disaster scenarios. Cooperation between the American Air Forces allows not only for the exchange of experiences, but also for the standardization of operational procedures, making operations more agile and effective,” he said.
Photos: COMAE