Standing Capacity for National Wildfire Response

Aegis ATC holds active contract vehicles with the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) for Mobile Communications Unit and Helicopter Operations Support Unit services — Region 13, National scope, running through 2029. That's standing, pre-vetted capacity with the agency that coordinates the nation's wildfire response, not a one-time engagement. Our federal fire-support contracting history with the U.S. Forest Service goes back to 2018, when Aegis ATC first held a Pacific Southwest Region vehicle for portable air traffic control towers.

In the field

In August 2025, Aegis ATC deployed a certified air traffic control tower to the Eastern Great Basin Coordination Center, providing FAA-standard airspace management for a 19-day active fire operation. It's one of several ATC tower and incident telecommunications deployments Aegis ATC has supported for the Forest Service and NIFC in recent fire seasons — coordinating tanker, helicopter, and lead-plane traffic in airspace with no permanent tower of its own.

What this means for a fire operation

a mobile tower and communications unit that can stand up on the same timeline as the incident itself, staffed by FAA-certified controllers, under contract vehicles the agency already has in place — no new procurement cycle required to bring Aegis ATC on-site.