Afghanistan Rotary Wing Airlift 2010-2016

The Department of the Army Central Command established this Master IDIQ on September 30, 2010, to provide rotary wing cargo and passenger airlift services in Afghanistan, with ordering authority expiring on October 31, 2017—the vehicle is no longer active and has been closed to new task orders for eight years and eight months.

All 14 task orders issued under the vehicle are unrestricted competitive awards with firm fixed pricing. The combined potential value across all orders is $2.35 billion, of which $2.04 billion (87 percent) has been obligated. Task orders ranged widely in scale, from pilot orders under $3,000 in early 2011 to production orders exceeding $500 million. The largest single order, HTC71110DR026-0001 to AAR Airlift Group, Inc., carried a $574.7 million ceiling and obligated $522.2 million. Most production orders completed in October 2015 or September 2017, aligned with U.S. military drawdown phases under Operation Freedom's Sentinel.

Five firms shared the 14 awards. AAR Airlift Group, Inc., dominated by potential value with three orders worth $799 million combined. Vertical De Aviacion S A S En Reorganizacion received two orders totaling $580.8 million, Columbia Helicopters, Inc., four orders for $497.5 million, Canadian Commercial Corporation two orders for $254.5 million, and Construction Helicopters, LLC two orders for $125.6 million. The top five firms captured 96 percent of combined potential value. All orders flowed to the single customer, Department of the Army Central Command, under the Afghanistan operation.

Ordering activity concentrated heavily in the first half of the vehicle's life. The program issued four orders at award in September 2010, eight in 2011, and only two in 2016, the final year before the vehicle expired. This front-loaded profile reflected the escalating and then descending tempo of the Afghanistan mission. Work was performed entirely in Afghanistan and tied exclusively to Operation Freedom's Sentinel.

Contractors under this vehicle provide safe, operable helicopters to perform services including a combination of approximately 50 medium, heavy and super-heavy lift rotary wing transport of Class I-X supplies, U.S. Mail and passengers.