Airport operators around the world rely on the Rosenbauer flagship, since it has set the technical standard in the aircraft fire fighting sectors for years. This is also the case for Finavia in Finland, which will put six identical PANTHER 6x6s into service by the end of the year: five at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, the capitol, and one at Tampere-Pirkkala Airport. Among these is the PANTHER with production number 1500, a minor milestone.
A Euro 6 engine is built into the anniversary PANTHER as the 750 hp (552 kW) drive unit, which gives the vehicle a top speed of 120 km/h (74 mph). An eight-speed automatic transmission enables the 36.6-ton emergency vehicle to shift through the gears quickly and accelerate from 0 to 80 km/h (50 mph) in less than 30 seconds. With this drive, the PANTHER also reaches the furthest point of the runway at Tampere in the time prescribed by ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, namely less than three minutes.
Safe Approach
Passive and active systems ensure maximum safety during the rapid approach over the airfield: the vehicle crew sits in a cabin that is crash-tested according to ECE R29-3. Good handling is achieved thanks to the perfectly matched chassis and body, the low center of gravity of the PANTHER, a vehicle width of three meters, and special high-speed wide/winter tires with a contact surface of 455 mm (17.9 inches).
All Finavia-PANTHER vehicles have to withstand extreme winter conditions
In critical driving situations at high speeds, the driver is also supported by the RSC system (Roll Stability Control), specially developed for the PANTHER. If the lateral acceleration is too high, the driving assistance system reduces the engine torque in a first step. If lateral acceleration remains critical, active braking is applied to all axles to reduce speed. The vehicle performs this measure autonomously without intervention from the driver.
Withstand extreme winter conditions
All Finavia-PANTHER vehicles have to withstand extreme winter conditions and are therefore equipped with a low-temperature package that allows the vehicles to operate up to an outside temperature of - 32 °C (- 25 °F). The winter package includes, among other things, engine and transmission preheating, auxiliary heating for the body components that come into contact with extinguishing water (pump box, rear box, deep compartments), and a heated roof-mounted turret.
Full LED Equipment
A FLIR camera (Forward Looking Infrared) is mounted on the driver's cab so that a vehicle can be used even in poor on-the-ground visibility (heavy snowfall, fog) and obstacles on the approach can be detected in good time. This camera displays the route as a thermal image. Furthermore, the Finavia-PANTHER is equipped with a full LED system from the headlights to the light mast, rear axle steering for tight cornering, as well as other camera systems (e.g., reversing camera, turret camera).
Mega Firefighting Equipment
The extinguishing agent supply of around 14,000 l is discharged in less than two minutes
The firefighting equipment of the anniversary Panther is a fully integrated system consisting of powerful individual components with a 9,000 l pump, a precisely matched foam proportioning system, and electronically controlled turrets. All functions can be operated with one hand from the cockpit and, if necessary, by the driver alone. Turrets and ground sweep nozzles can also be activated during the journey by switching to pump & roll operation.
ChemCore nozzle
The extinguishing agent supply of around 14,000 l is discharged in less than two minutes thanks to the optimum system integration of all components. The bumper turret is equipped with a ChemCore nozzle, through which the dry powder can be introduced into the water/foam mixture extinguishing agent stream.
Finavia operates 25 of the 28 airports in Finland, including Helsinki-Vantaa with around 19 million passengers a year and, together with the Finnish Air Force, Tampere-Pirkkala with around 210,000 passengers a year. An existing PANTHER FL fleet from 2003 will be replaced at the capitol's airport and a Rosenbauer PANTHER will be put into service for the first time at Tampere-Pirkkala Airport.
