Helicopter Applicators Inc.

Helicopter Applicators Inc., a for-profit Subchapter S corporation based in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, provides helicopter-based aerial services — herbicide application, wildland fire suppression support, invasive species control, and environmental intervention — as a prime contractor across federal land-management agencies, competing predominantly in full-and-open federal procurement with no set-aside designations on its major vehicle work.

Helicopter Applicators Inc. holds a $50 million Indefinite Delivery Contract with the National Interagency Fire Center (awarded January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2033) for Type 1, 2, and 3 helicopter support services across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Under that vehicle, the vendor has received seven delivery orders totaling approximately $1.27 million, each ranging from $101,295 to $299,488, deployed for wildland fire suppression and aerial spraying missions. Beyond the NIFC parent contract, Helicopter Applicators Inc. also executes work under Army Corps of Engineers IDCs — including a $2.5 million vehicle (W912EQ06D0005) and a $238 thousand vehicle in support of engineering and water-resource missions — and holds smaller IDIQs with the Department of Interior and Forest Service. Recent representative work includes a $513,490 firm fixed-price definitive contract awarded January 28, 2026, by the National Park Service Northeast Region for helicopter liming application services across 2,150 acres at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to address acid rain damage; a $28,275 Total Small Business Set-Aside purchase order awarded March 4, 2026, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5 for aerial herbicide application at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia; and a $27,586 Total Small Business Set-Aside purchase order awarded June 26, 2025, also with Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5 for invasive species control at the same refuge.

Customer concentration is split between fire and emergency response work and natural resource restoration. The National Interagency Fire Center dominates by potential value, anchoring 15 awards with $79.8 million combined potential value, while the Department of Interior's Office of Policy Management and Budget carries 1 award worth $40 million (a planning or administrative allocation). The Army Corps of Engineers Engineering District Memphis accounts for 28 awards with $8 million combined potential value, and Fish and Wildlife Service regional offices hold 25 awards across Regions 4 and 5 valued at $4.3 million combined. The top five customer components account for 97% of combined potential value. The vendor's award footprint spans 161 prime contracts since 1991, with recent annual volume ranging from two awards in 2022–2023 to five in 2025, and only two awards completing within the next twenty-four months (combined potential value $542 thousand), indicating low near-term recompete exposure.

Helicopter Applicators Inc.'s work category distribution reflects its core aerial-services posture: 38 awards fall under NAICS 115310 (Support Activities for Forestry), 25 under NAICS 481211 (Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation), and 22 under NAICS 541370 (Commercial Photography — capturing aerial survey work). Top PSC categories align similarly, with 56 awards coded to Photo/Map/Print/Publication-Aerial Photographic services and 24 to Natural Resources/Conservation-Aerial Fertilization/Spraying. The vendor operates exclusively as a prime; no sub-award activity appears in the source data. The company was registered in the System for Award Management in 2001 and holds the required Pennsylvania commercial herbicide applicator's license with aquatic pest control certification, liability insurance of at least $1 million per incident, and demonstrated safety and advance-notice protocols for public-use refuges and protected lands.