Bridger Aerospace

Bridger Aerospace is an aerial firefighting and special missions company based in Belgrade, Montana. It flies firefighting and survey aircraft for government agencies in the United States and Canada.

The company was founded in 2014 by combat veterans. They wanted to bring close air support ideas to wildland firefighting. It began with a single aircraft in Montana. In 2015 it flew three Twin Commander aircraft in the air attack role. It bought its first two CL-415EAF Super Scoopers in 2020. By 2021 it had four Super Scoopers and 20 aircraft in all, and it dropped over 5 million gallons of water that season.

Bridger became a public company in 2023. That year it added a sixth Super Scooper, finished a third hangar and bought the IGNIS wildfire technology platform. In 2024 it bought FMS Aerospace, which added aircraft engineering, modification, flight testing and certification skills. Its main office is at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport. It also has a second headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama.

Its flying work falls into three groups. Initial attack means rapid first response on the fire line. Air attack means coordinated command from the air over a wildfire. Multi-mission flying covers surveillance, mapping and intelligence. The fleet includes CL-415EAF and CL-215T Super Scooper amphibious aircraft. It also includes Pilatus PC-12 and Daher Kodiak aircraft used for air attack and multi-mission work.

IGNIS gives firefighters a shared view of an incident. Teams can share intelligence, watch aircraft livestreams and use aviation map products. The platform has wildfire map layers and fire weather updates, and it works offline.

Bridger works under FAA certified operations and follows US Forest Service and Department of the Interior standards. It has in-house maintenance, repair, overhaul and engineering support. Its customers include federal, state, provincial and local agencies, among them CAL FIRE, the State of Alaska and Texas A&M Forest Service.

The company is also growing beyond fire work. In October 2026 it announced a long-term agreement with Metatek Group. Bridger will modify, operate and maintain three Basler BT-67 aircraft for airborne geophysical surveys. The first is expected to enter service in 2027.

Services

• Initial attack firefighting
• Air attack
• Multi-mission surveillance
• Aerial mapping and intelligence
• IGNIS wildfire platform
• Maintenance repair and overhaul
• Aircraft engineering
• Aircraft modification