Coulson Aviation (Usa), Inc.

Coulson Aviation (USA), Inc., doing business as Coulson Aircrane, is a foreign-owned, for-profit aerial firefighting services company based in Portland, Oregon that operates exclusively as a prime contractor to federal wildfire-suppression and aviation-management programs, with 88 recent awards carrying $2.37 billion in combined potential value and all work concentrated within the Department of Agriculture's National Interagency Fire Center network and related Interior Department land-management missions.

The company's concrete capability footprint centers on exclusive-use airtanker and heavy lift helicopter services for federal wildland fire suppression. Coulson operates a fleet of modified C-130 and Boeing 737 air tankers capable of carrying up to 5,000 gallons of fire retardant per sortie, along with Sikorsky S-61 heavy lift helicopters for water drops and personnel transport. Representative recent work includes a $60.2 million delivery order from the National Interagency Fire Center (awarded June 9, 2026, extending through December 31, 2030) for airtanker services under the Forest Service Airtanker Services 2023 IDIQ; a $4.56 million call-when-needed airtanker and helicopter delivery order from the Department of Agriculture Forest Service (awarded July 9, 2026) set aside for total small business; and a $58.1 million total-small-business exclusive-use airtanker mobilization task order from NIFC (awarded May 17, 2024, extending through December 31, 2028). The company also holds a $50 million IDC for Type 1 Helicopter Support Services running through December 2034 and a $1.44 billion multiple-award Forest Service Airtanker Services 2023 contract carrying total small business set-aside status, both awarded January 2025 and January 2024 respectively.

Customer concentration is extreme and singular. The National Interagency Fire Center accounts for 83 of 88 awards and $2.37 billion of the $2.37 billion combined potential value (covering 99% of the award portfolio). The Department of the Interior holds three small awards totaling roughly $5.1 million; the Department of Agriculture Forest Service proper holds one $150 thousand award; and the Department of the Air Force holds one $800 thousand award. There is no material secondary customer base.

Coulson's recent activity trajectory shows significant decline. Awards per year fell from 35 in 2022 to 23 in 2023, then to 7 in 2024, 3 in 2025, and 9 in 2026 year-to-date through September. This decline reflects the maturation of the company's relationship with NIFC into large, long-duration exclusive-use delivery orders that replace numerous smaller call-when-needed task orders. The company faces minimal recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months — only one award ($4.6 million) reaches ultimate completion by July 2028.

Coulson places work through three parent vehicles. The Forest Service Airtanker Services 2023 IDIQ accounts for 8 task orders valued at $271.7 million combined potential value. Two legacy IDCs — the Indefinite Delivery Contract 1202SA22T9110 (38 task orders, $19.4 million combined potential value) and Basic Ordering Agreement 12024B20G5016 (16 task orders, $9.6 million combined potential value) — carry the bulk of historical call-when-needed ordering but now see minimal new work as the company transitions to exclusive-use mobilization orders under the larger IDIQ. The Type 1 Helicopter Support Services 2025-2034 vehicle holds 6 task orders valued at $3.4 million combined potential value. All four vehicles are full-and-open or total-small-business contracts; Coulson competes across both designations without a persistent set-aside posture, though recent large airtanker delivery orders favor total small business set-asides.

Coulson operates zero subcontract work in the federal space — 100% of awards are prime. The company competes solely on its owned aircraft assets and operational personnel and does not engage in teaming arrangements or sub-work tracked in federal databases. Obligated dollars total $284 million across the $2.37 billion potential value, indicating 12% cash-flow realization to date, typical of IDIQs in early execution phases with long option periods and future call-when-needed task order issuance.