Brainerd Helicopters, Inc.

Brainerd Helicopters, Inc., doing business as Firehawk Helicopters, operates as a veteran-owned and woman-owned small business prime contractor delivering helicopter flight operations, wildland firefighting support, and aircraft maintenance services to federal land management and emergency response agencies under more than a dozen standing Indefinite Delivery Contracts (IDCs) collectively exceeding $250 million in ceiling value. Firehawk Helicopters competes predominantly under Total Small Business set-asides across its primary customer base—the National Interagency Fire Center, the Department of the Interior, and the Bureau of Land Management—and maintains a rotorcraft fleet including UH-60s, S-70s, and AS350 helicopters staged across Leesburg, Florida and operational bases in the western and southeastern United States.

Firehawk Helicopters' federal footprint reflects sustained concentration in wildland firefighting and natural resource management. The National Interagency Fire Center accounts for roughly half of recent awards (120 of 484 primes) and $367.6 million of combined potential value, driven primarily by task orders under a $50 million Type 1 Helicopter Support Services MATOC (2025–2034) and an $80 million Type 3 Helicopter Support Services MATOC (2023–2032). The Department of the Interior's Office of Policy Management and Budget ranks second (96 awards, $145.7 million), followed by the Bureau of Land Management Idaho Region (77 awards, $97.6 million). These three customers account for 78% of award count and 93% of combined potential value. Representative work includes $3.2 million and $3.12 million exclusive-use Type 1 helicopter delivery orders from BLM for Boise, Idaho operations (April 2026 and May 2025); $859,040 and $800,839 short-haul European helicopter orders from the National Park Service Intermountain Region for Yellowstone operations (May 2026 and May 2025); and $701,085 Type III helicopter services for Rawlins, Wyoming from the Office of Policy Management and Budget (June 2026).

Firehawk Helicopters holds nine named parent vehicles spanning wildland fire support, emergency response, and aircraft maintenance. The Type 1 Helicopter Support Services 2025–2034 IDIQ ($50 million, NIFC) has generated 19 task orders valued at $7.8 million combined through May 2026, with orders ranging from $84,987.88 to $778,973.99, all firm fixed-price and performed in Leesburg, Florida with completion through December 31, 2029. The Type 3 Helicopter Support Services 2023–2032 MATOC ($80 million, NIFC) has issued multiple delivery orders for regional helicopter operations at bases in Garden Valley, Idaho; Monument, Colorado; Anniston, Alabama; Lufkin, Texas; and Clarksville, Arkansas, with a derived FY2024 government-paid rate of $188.28 per hour on a $3.84 million Monument, Colorado order. The On-Call Type III Helicopter Flight Services 2022–2027 IDIQ ($49.5 million, Interior Business Center) funds fire suppression, prescribed burns, search and rescue, and resource management across National Park Service regions, Fish and Wildlife Service, and BLM with recent orders for Titusville and Ochopee, Florida; Dubois, Wyoming; and Yellowstone. Single-award contracts for exclusive-use Type 1 services at Boise, Idaho ($17.9 million, BLM); European helicopter services in Las Vegas, Nevada ($4.7 million); Rawlins, Wyoming ($4.4 million); and Tooele, Utah ($4.2 million) round out the major portfolio. A $14.78 million Fish and Wildlife Service H-125 on-call pilot and maintenance services contract (through August 2028) and a $30 million Department of the Interior aircraft fleet maintenance contract (through November 2027) support rotorcraft sustainment missions.

Activity has remained relatively flat year over year, declining from 47 awards in 2022 to 24 in 2026 (year-to-date). Twenty-seven awards, valued at $8.8 million combined potential value, carry ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months and face recompete exposure. SCI-reported invoicing across federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold totaled $32.2 million over FY2022–FY2024 ($9.3 million in FY2022, $10.2 million in FY2023, $12.6 million in FY2024), with the FY2024 workforce comprising 24.5 FTEs. Government-paid hourly rates on federal service contracts in SCI ranged from a 10th percentile of $139.47 per hour to a 90th percentile of $475.56 per hour, with a median of $194.16 per hour. Firehawk Helicopters self-performs all reported SCI labor with no named subcontractor engagement, operating as a vertically integrated provider.

Firehawk Helicopters operates the world's only commerical available Sikorsky S-70 (UH-60) Black Hawks. Our experience in multiple sectors of commerical aviation includes Fire Fighting, Aerial Crane, Construction, Flight Testing (Defense R&D), Movie and Television Production and Charter. Firehawk and Brainerd Helicopters offer over 39 years of experience in the aviation industry. Firehawk Helicopters has Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawks and Eurocopter AS-350B3 Astars available