Amphibious Water Scooper Aircraft Services

The USDA Forest Service Incident Procurement Aviation Branch is soliciting multiple Firm-Fixed-Price, Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity contracts for contractor-operated and maintained turbine-powered, multi-engine, amphibious, fixed-wing water scooping aircraft services. These aircraft, which must have a minimum tank capacity of 1,400 U.S. gallons and full or interim Interagency Airtanker Board approval, will be primarily utilized for the initial and extended attack of wildland fires. The contract structure includes a one-year base period for 2027 with nine subsequent one-year options extending through 2036. This acquisition is a total small business set-aside under NAICS code 481212, with a total MATOC ceiling of 2.5 billion dollars and a guaranteed minimum of 10,000 dollars for the base period. Proposals are evaluated based on technical acceptability and price reasonableness, focusing on structural integrity, maintenance, equipment, safety elements, past performance, and organizational experience. Awardees must provide pricing for daily availability and dry hourly flight rates, while the government provides an extended standby rate of 70 dollars per hour for authorized crew and mechanics. Contractors are required to maintain aircraft public liability insurance per 14 CFR 298 and adhere to strict marking requirements, including the prohibition of official government logos on equipment. Technical requirements include approved STCs for water scooper configurations and compliance with FAA Airworthiness Directives. Proposals must be submitted via the IIPA Vendor Portal in separate technical and business volumes.