Coulson Aviation (Usa), Inc.

Coulson Aviation (USA) Inc., doing business as Coulson Aircrane, operates as a foreign-owned, for-profit prime contractor providing exclusive-use airtanker and heavy lift helicopter services for federal wildland fire suppression and aerial firefighting operations. The company holds a small-business designation on select vehicle awards and competes across both total-small-business-set-aside and full-and-open delivery orders, though the preponderance of recent activity (87 of 92 awards) flows through the National Interagency Fire Center under set-aside vehicles.

Coulson Aircrane's capability footprint centers on a single concrete domain: aerial firefighting asset deployment. The company operates a fleet of modified C-130 Hercules and Boeing 737 air tankers capable of carrying up to 5,000 gallons of fire retardant per sortie, supplemented by Sikorsky S-61 heavy lift helicopters for water drops and personnel transport. All aircraft and operational personnel are company-owned and operated; the vendor performs exclusively as a prime contractor with no tracked subcontract work across the federal footprint. Representative work includes a $60.2 million delivery order from the National Interagency Fire Center (June 2026) under the Forest Service Airtanker Services 2023 IDIQ for exclusive-use airtanker services through December 2030, a $49.0 million exclusive-use mobilization task order (May 2024) under the same vehicle through December 2028, and an $8.99 million exclusive-use Next Generation 3.0 large airtanker delivery order (March 2025) under the Next Generation Large Airtanker Services 3.0 contract for performance through December 2025.

Customer concentration is nearly total: 87 of 92 awards (99% of the portfolio) fund the Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management National Interagency Fire Center, which accounts for $2.38 billion in combined potential value. The remaining five awards, valued at under $9.6 million combined, split among the Department of the Interior (two awards for helicopter support and park management) and the Department of the Air Force (one aircraft-related award). This concentration reflects Coulson's positioning as the exclusive or near-exclusive provider of call-when-needed airtanker and helicopter mobilization capacity within the federal wildfire-suppression network.

Coulson maintains a seat on four active parent vehicles. The Forest Service Airtanker Services 2023 IDIQ, a $1.44 billion total-small-business-set-aside vehicle running through December 2033, carries 11 delivery orders valued at $284.3 million and represents the core of recent activity. The Type 1 Helicopter Support Services 2025-2034 IDC, a $50 million multiple-award vehicle through December 2034, supports 7 task orders worth $3.8 million. The Next Generation Large Airtanker Services 3.0 contract anchors 5 delivery orders totaling $36.9 million. Two legacy vehicles—Indefinite Delivery Contract 1202SA22T9110 and Basic Ordering Agreement 12024B20G5016—collectively carry 54 task orders (38 and 16 respectively) valued at $29.0 million, predominantly from the 2022–2023 period when those vehicles were active.

Activity has declined materially year over year. The vendor received 35 awards in 2022, 23 in 2023, but only 7 in 2024 and 3 in 2025. A rebound to 13 awards in 2026 reflects seasonal variation and new vehicle awards rather than sustained growth. The 2022–2023 spike corresponded with awards against legacy contracts; the transition to the Forest Service Airtanker Services 2023 vehicle and Type 1 Helicopter Support Services 2025-2034 vehicle has flattened task-order frequency. Awards show no recompete cliff: the $60.2 million delivery order extends to December 2030, and the Type 1 Helicopter contract runs through December 2034. The portfolio's $2.39 billion potential value against $302.1 million obligated (13% burn-down) signals that most awards remain unexercised or in early-stage mobilization.

Place of performance splits between Portland, Oregon (administrative and helicopter operations headquarters) and Boise, Idaho (airtanker mobilization and staging), with call-when-needed deployments nationwide in response to active fire seasons. The company has held federal contracts with NIFC and the Forest Service since at least 2012, anchoring its positioning as a specialized, single-capability provider in a market with limited competitors for exclusive-use federal airtanker capacity.