I know it's not strictly AusBT territory but why don't we have some serious aerial fire fighting equipment in Australia?

I know it's not strictly AusBT territory but why don't we have some serious aerial fire fighting equipment in Australia?

e.g.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen_747_Supertanker

I know it would be expensive however we could joint purchase with the USA with our alternating seasons. Surely this isn't out of our reach.

QFFflyer, it may not be "stricly AusBT territory" but that's why we have this part of the site, for people to bring forward all manner of topics to discuss, and I think this is a very timely topic you've raised!

Question of where you fill it and how long it takes to fill it.

A chopper going to a local dam can be a lot more targeted.

In the US they use some aircraft that land and fill up on large freshwater bodies of water, but there are less of these in Australia.

Cost benefit analysis wouldn't work out. All that money for one tool, when the millions requried could be spread across many, many (and mostly volunteer) rural fire brigades which do a lot more all year. However chartering the thing when necessary and practical would make sense. 

While much lower-cost, and certainly damn effective, the very direct methods of the rural fire services means a high level of danger to personnel, so I wouldn't underappreciate the need for aerial attack capability.

My layman's guess is that a larger number of smaller aircraft will probably be the superior choice.