The table below released by NIFC is dated May 30, 2023 — but all of these airtankers have been activated, some as early as March. No big surprises on the contract awards — most of who you hoped would be on contract, including two Aero-Flite scoopers, are on the list.
T-262 — a 1600-gal. CL-415. Aero-Flite photo
The other airtanker contract awards include Neptune (T-40 and T-15 and T-16 and T-12), Aero-Flite with T-12 and T-162, 10 Tanker with its T-914 DC-10, Coulson’s T-137 (a 737), Aero-Flite (T-167 and T-164) and Aero Air with T-102 and T-101. The CWN activations include 10 Tanker’s T-910 (a DC-10), and the CWN Scooper activations include Aero-Flite’s S261 and S262 (both CL-415 aircraft).
2023 Contract Airtankers
High fives to all you pilots, personnel, and contract companies — we’re glad you’re on board!
*NOTE: No one at NIFC has responded to a couple requests for details on this, but if they do we’ll update this post.
Helicopter 729 drops on a fire near El Cajon, CA May 13, 2022. Ryan Grothe.
The US Forest Service recently released new requirements for firefighting helicopters on their Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC). It requires real-time communications, automatic flight following, and ATU bucket drop data, together with cockpit audio recording and Flight Data Monitoring (FDM).
Three companies have combined their expertise to build a system that meets the requirements without overburdening aircraft and budgets, according to a press release issued by GPMS, Blue Sky Network, and Flightcell.
Below are excerpts:
Today, GPMS International, Flightcell, and Blue Sky Network jointly announced a combined solution featuring their industry-leading technologies that creates a fully compliant, lightweight, cost-efficient option for operators looking to bid on the recently released U.S. Forest Service Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) firefighting contract.
Executives from the companies explained that many operators are having difficulty finding workable solutions to satisfy the new requirements in the USFS contract. By pairing Flightcell’s and Blue Sky Network’s enabled communications, flight following, Additional Telemetry Unit (ATU), and cockpit audio recording with GPMS’s advanced Health and Usage Monitoring System, the combined package meets new USFS requirements including the “modern aircraft” specification for HUMS.
“After many discussions during the HAI Firefighting and Aerial Firefighting shows, operators told us that they are looking for a solution to meet the new USFS requirements without overburdening their aircraft with additional weight or complexity or stacking single system costs onto their budgets,” said Todd Powers, GPMS VP of Sales. “What we have created here with Flightcell and Blue Sky Network is a lightweight, economically efficient solution to bring aircraft into compliance and allow operators to compete for this new contract.”
It puts Flightcell’s DZMx Plus and Smarthub cockpit audio visual recording onboard and, using Blue Sky Network’s connectivity service and SkyRouter™ fleet management platform, data is ported via a dual Satellite/LTE modem, where operators get comms, ATU data, and flight following in real-time together with downloadable audio/video recording.
Completing the solution, GPMS’s Foresight MX system provides the in-depth flight and machine monitoring that are part of the MATOC’s modern aircraft requirements for HUMS. Foresight provides engine and airframe vibration monitoring, engine performance monitoring and cycle counting, flight data monitoring with exceedance alerting, as well as rotor track and balance monitoring and adjustment solutions.
Federal fire aircraft on contract, 2021. Where there is no CWN entry, there ARE some on contract, but the number that could be activated is not clear.
The five federal land management agencies have 201 aircraft on exclusive use contract this year for assisting wildland firefighters, according to the information we received from spokespersons for the agencies.
In 2016 the FS hired 34 Type 1 helicopters on EU contracts but starting in 2017 reduced the number to 28. The fleet remained at that level until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 when they added an additional 22 ships for a total of 50. The agency felt the “surge” helicopters were necessary to mitigate a possible decrease in the effectiveness or numbers of their ground forces — engines and hand crews. In addition, the federal land management agencies said last year they were going to limit the number of less-than-full-suppression fires and attack new ignitions aggressively.
This year there will be 20 Type 1 helicopters on surge contracts, for a total of 48. These are the largest-capacity helicopters used for firefighting, capable of carrying 700 to 3,000 gallons of water.
Over the last 10 years the average number of large multi-engine air tankers (LAT) on exclusive use (EU) US Forest Service contracts was 14.0 for the United States. The average number on EU contracts from 2000 through 2009 was 28.3. This year there are 18, which is 5 more than last year.
Tanker 131 drops on the Cloud Fire in Southern California June 12, 2021. USFS photo.
Due to the pandemic last year the FS gave about seven companies hybrid surge Call When Needed (CWN) LAT contracts that were basically EU, but for 90 days, rather than the typical 160-day EU Mandatory Availability Period. The rates they negotiated were generally less than the typically high CWN rates. For a while they also activated four additional LATs on a true CWN basis, with no guarantee of days worked.
This year there are 18 LATs on EU contracts and 8 more could come on later on surge contracts, with an additional 8 possible, the FS says, on CWN contracts.
Number of USFS Large Air Tankers on Exclusive Use contracts.
As of June 9 there were 17 LATs actively working on EU contracts, one scheduled to begin its EU contract on June 20, and one CWN that was activated June 9.
All of the LATs and Very Large Air Tankers on EU contracts can hold up to 3,000 gallons of retardant, except for Coulson’s C-130 (4,000) and the 10 Tanker DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker (9,400).
In addition to the LATs and Type 1 helicopters, this year the additional aircraft on EU contracts among all the Federal wildland firefighting agencies include:
43 Type 2 helicopters (smaller than Type 1 helicopters)
41 Single Engine Air Tankers
0 Multi-engine scooping air tankers
26 Air Tactical fixed wing
27 Aerial Supervision fixed wing
14 Smokejumper fixed wing
2 Infrared mapping fixed wing
1 Large passenger aircraft (typically a 737)
The Federal government also has the ability to activate up to eight military C-130 aircraft equipped with 3,000-gallon Modular FireFighting Systems (MAFFS) if additional LATs are needed. The Governors of the four states in which they are based may also activate the two within their state.
