US Army to get enhanced rate of delivery for UH-72A Lakota
EADS North America marked another milestone for the UH-72A Light Utility Helicopter program by supplying a pair of its rotary-wing aircraft to the U.S. Army in September – the first time two Lakotas have been delivered during a single month.
Both UH-72As were accepted at the newly-expanded Lakota production center in Columbus, Mississippi, which is operated by the American Eurocopter business unit of EADS North America.
These are the 11th and 12th UH-72As received by the Army since deliveries of the Light Utility Helicopter began in December 2006 at the rate of one per month. They also are the second and third “made in America” Lakotas, which are certified under U.S. production authority recently issued by the Federal Aviation Administration for American Eurocopter’s UH-72A/EC145 helicopters.
Up to 322 Lakotas will be acquired by the Army for use within the United States on homeland security operations, for medical evacuation, passenger/logistics transportation and drug interdiction missions. Delivery rate for the UH-72A will increase to three monthly in early 2008, ultimately rising to as many as five per month in 2009.
Lakotas 11 and 12 were received by the Army on September 26th and 27th respectively and will be assigned to its Joint Readiness Training Center at Ft. Polk, Louisiana. They join another Lakota previously delivered to this training center. All of the aircraft are configured for transport and support missions.
Other UH-72As are performing VIP airlift and transport duties at Ft. Eustis/Ft. Monroe in Virginia’s Hampton Roads region. The first Army unit equipped with Lakotas was the National Training Center Air Ambulance Detachment at Ft. Irwin, California, where UH-72As are outfitted for medical evacuation with litters and an externally-mounted rescue hoist.
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