Ukraine’s Fire Killers
Since their establishment in 2019, Xena LLC, a subsidiary of Expedition Aviation based in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine has achieved success and continued growth thanks to their highly experienced team and unique aerial firefighting assets. Stewart Marshall spoke with their CEO Roman Mileshko and joined their team on firefighting operations.
Introduction
Xena is built on over 20 years of operational expertise through a tight-knit team of seasoned aviators having accumulated thousands of flying hours in the most austere and challenging conditions. The air company is a subsidiary of the Expedition Aviation Group, a mission-aviation specialist providing full-service solutions primarily in the field of humanitarian or disaster relief. The group CEO is Mr. Roman Mileshko, a veteran pilot who served his country flying in Ukraine’s Naval Aviation units, during which he consequently gained experience operating detachments overseas for multinational air exercises and peacekeeping operations within Africa and the Middle East. Following his time in the military, Mileshko continued to organise and manage aviation programs in the commercial sector:
“When I established Expedition Aviation in 2015, we obtained our first contract supporting the African Union mission in Somalia, for which we provided helicopters and fixed wing aircraft to support peace keeping forces. Of course, in this region of the world there was nothing better for the job than Antonov aircraft as they can operate unsupported and land on unpaved strips. We didn’t have an Air Operators Certificate (AOC) at the time, so we hired another operator who flew Antonov An-26’s on our behalf however we found it difficult to achieve excellence not having control of the maintenance and operational aspects.”
Realising the way forward was obtaining and operating their own aircraft, the company purchased their first Antonov 26 and achieved a Ukrainian AOC. Shortly after they successfully won contracts for the United Nations, French and German Governments operating on their behalf in Africa. The increased workload brought on by these projects led to exponential grown from 1 to 12 Antonov An-26’s within 3 years, along with numerous Mi-8 and Mi-17 type helicopters on strength. The company later leased Antonov An-74’s and over time have accumulated vast experience operating all the medium-size Antonov models in these niche markets.
By 2019, Expedition was eyeing other specialised markets in which they could apply their esteemed Antonov aircraft. The opportunity soon arose to acquire an Antonov AN-32 (UR-UZH) under auction which had been converted to the water bomber “An-32P Fire Killer” variant. This An-32P was remarkably the ex-Antonov Design Bureau demonstrator, serial number 2901 which was previously registered as UR-48086 and wowed audiences at the Moscow and Malta Airshows in 1995 soon after its production. The airframe saw sporadic firefighting use in tandem with worldwide airshow appearances up until 2012 when it was stored at Gostomel Airport near Kyiv. It remained parked up here for years until it was finally picked by Expedition in 2019.
Fire Killer Run Down
The Antonov An-32 was initially produced at the request of the Indian Air Force, equipped with powerful Ivchenko AI-20D engines. The larger AI-20 engines provide a telltale visual difference over the older Antonov An-26 model with the nacelles being mounted high above the wing to protect the propellers from foreign object damage (FOD) on rough airstrips. This design also allows the An-32 to operate more effectively in high altitudes and hot, adverse weather conditions, with improved high-lift wings and better take-off performance than the An-26. The improvements have enabled operations in ambient air temperatures up to +55 degrees Celsius (131 Fahrenheit) and airfield elevations up to 4,500 meters (14,763 feet) above sea level.
Converting a standard Antonov An-32 transport aircraft into the An-32P firefighting variant involves fitting it with specialized external tanks for water or retardant along with a release system controlled by the pilots. Four tanks are installed with a combined capacity of 8000 liters which can be filled in less than 5 minutes through a range of applications. Modifications to the cabin are also carried out as it remains fully functional despite the additional tanks being added. The interior overhaul includes new lighting, panel walls, windows, floors, seat tracks, and intercom systems which makes it truly multi-role, laying the foundations to enable quick role conversions. The rear ramp is modified to accommodate paradrops of up to 27 smokejumpers and their equipment, which are highly trained wildland firefighters who parachutes into remote areas to combat wildfires in their early stages. It can alternatively accommodate up to 24 stretches to evacuate injured personnel or up to 6,700 kilograms of general cargo. An impressive internal crane fitted to the ceiling of the cabin allows items up to 3,000kg to be lifted from the ground up onto the rear ramp.
The An-32P has undoubtedly brought more unique capabilities to the companies growing fleet. Being no strangers to the Antonov models and their Ukrainian aviation heritage, Expedition would normally have had no issues inducting the new aircraft, however Mileshko recalled this new acquisition brought a new set of challenges despite their in-depth experience of the Antonov types:
“When we purchased our first An-32P, we became the only civilian operator of the type worldwide. Even though the civilian certification to operate the aircraft has existed since 1995, there were no current pilots or mechanics certified on the type meaning it took quite some time to train up personnel to operate it. Alongside these challenges there was also the requirement to modernise the onboard avionics to meet ICAO standards for operations worldwide. The new company established for aerial firefighting, Xena LLC, had to effectively start from the ground up which took 2 years before we reached a point where we were finally ready to tender for contracts.”
When Xena was finally ready to get underway, Türkiye was coincidently going through a very tough firefighting season and were eager to bring in more support from overseas. Xena quickly positioned their An-32P to assist.
Türkiye Operations
In Türkiye the General Directorate of Forestry (Orman Genel Müdürlüğü or “OGM”) is the national authority responsible for wildfire fighting, The OGM operates only a finite fleet of firefighting aircraft themselves – The AT-802 Fireboss and the S-70i helicopter built on license by Turkish Aerospace Industries. The OGM is therefore allocated a budget worth hundreds of millions each year to contract fixed-wing and rotary firefighting assets which are operated by private international companies which descend on the country from as far as the United States and Russia’s Siberian region.
In 2021, Xena received an emergency contract from the OGM to base their aircraft at Dalaman Airport on Türkiye’s southwestern coast. During the peak summer months that year a series of more than 200 wildfires burnt 1,700 square kilometres (1056 square miles) of forest in Türkiye’s Mediterranean Region in the worst-ever wildfire season in the country's history. The wildfires had overwhelmed the Turkish authorities who requested assistance from their allies, enabling an opportunity for Xena to penetrate a well-established market shortly after their first aircraft was declared ready for operations.
Each day of the fire season the Xena aircrew assemble at sunrise at their base within the grounds of Dalaman Airport, positioned only meters from the aircraft so they can respond at a moment’s notice should they be called upon. They remain in situ through until sunset every day. The OGM headquarters in the Turkish capital monitor the country with a fleet of Bayraktar drones, Bell 429 helicopters and Beechcraft 350ER Kingair’s which are kitted out with advanced infra-red cameras to detect the thermal energy or heat emitted by emerging fires. If the OGM tasks the Xena crew, they are contracted to be wheels rolling on the tarmac within 20 minutes of the call. Captain Oleh Maksimov, a seasoned An-32P pilot provided an overview of the preparations which proceed the request to respond:
“When the request comes through, we receive the coordinates of the wildfire that we feed into 3D modelling software which enables us to pre-plan an ingress and egress route to conduct the water drop by reviewing the terrain for any potential obstacles. The drop itself occurs only 40-60 meters (130-195 feet) above ground level so it’s crucial we’re well prepared. We also conduct the flight planning and weight calculations to determine whether we can travel to the fire and drop directly from Dalaman or if we need to land at an airport nearer the scene to fill up. We can be called upon to respond to fires anywhere in the country so we could have up to 90 minutes transit time to take into consideration.”
The An-32P requires a crew of three comprising of two pilots and a navigator, however on firefighting operations a flight engineer and two technicians also fly with the aircraft as they could be detached to different locations for days at a time if there’s a significant fire ongoing. The crew could be subjected to gruelling shifts conducting water drops for 12-hours straight so it’s vital that there’s personnel on hand to keep the aircraft in good working order. The OGM also assigns a Turkish pilot who flies onboard every contracted aircraft to manage communications and contribute to flight safety. The OGM pilot will assist with the flight planning to look out for NOTAMS (Notice to Airmen) or military airspace restrictions which might impede their routing. Additionally, they will communicate with OGM representatives on the ground or onboard surveillance aircraft who control air traffic and instruct which area requires intervention as the fire progresses. Despite their thorough planning and experience, Captain Maksimov admits that there’s still clear and present dangers to be given careful consideration:
“The most significant danger to us is the smoke produced by the fires, firstly if we were to fly into smoke the visual impairment can cause us to lose track of obstacles and disorientation not being able to see the horizon. The other concerning factor is high density smoke can cause the engines to be starved of oxygen and stall which is of course extremely dangerous at low level. Due to these significant risks, we will never fly through smoke but will survey the direction in which it is travelling and plan accordingly to keep a safe distance.
We also need to keep good visual awareness when working severe fires as there could be ten or more aircraft responding and working in close vicinity. The OGM do a good job coordinating the traffic however it can be difficult with so many different nationalities and languages working together, so other aircraft can sometimes inadvertently cross our direction of flight so we’re always monitoring visually and on TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) in case we need to manoeuvre.”
Between June and September 2025, the persistent Xena crews detached to Türkiye have conducted 370 water drops on wildfires all over the country.
Preparing a Resilient Future
The Xena team has proven themselves as an effective asset in combatting wildfires throughout Türkiye with the Fire Killer being more cost efficient and productive than some of their western competitors. Their success has been represented in the company being contracted in the country through until the end of summer 2028.
Following their second successful season in Türkiye, Xena decided to expand with a second An-32P although once again it wasn’t straight forward as there were no converted firefighting models on the market. Their next acquisition was found 12,000 miles from their native Ukraine – A 1991-build An-32A which was being operated by Peruvian carrier ATSA (registration OB-1962-P). The ferry flight from South America was conducted in September 2023 with stops in Colombia, Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Scotland and Czechia. Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the aircraft couldn’t be delivered to the company’s headquarters in Zaporizhzhia, instead they positioned the aircraft to Trenčín in Slovakia from where the conversion to the firefighting variant was undertaken by Letecké opravovne Trenčín, a.s. (LOTN), a local maintenance and overhaul shop which was already undertaking the requirements of Expedition Aviation’s An-26 and An-74 fleet. The aircraft's overhaul and conversion process were completed by May 2024, with the required parts from Antonov having to be shipped by road from Ukraine. The second aircraft, UR-UZQ was immediately dispatched to Türkiye from where it has been contracted on an ad-hoc basis.
In August 2025, Xena received a contract to deploy an An-32P to Montenegro which was struggling with unprecedented wildfires across the country. The contract has been fully funded by the government of the UAE up until October 2025 with the option to reinstate support for the entire 2026 summer period. These latest developments for the company attest to the recognition and growing confidence in their offering. Wildfires are becoming more common in many parts of the world, particularly in the form of extreme and destructive events that have more than doubled in frequency since 2003. This trend is largely driven by climate change meaning the services provided by Xena will only be more sought after in years to come. Xena have already acquired a third aircraft (UR-UZR) which can be swiftly converted should a new opportunity appear on the horizon. Their analysis indicates that there are over 90 An-32 airframes around the world which could be acquired and converted allowing them to grow to fill the needs of the future.
The author would like to pass on their thanks to Roman Mileshko, Kseniia Bukshyna and Vlad Baliuk for their assistance in producing this feature.
