Airbus’ first UH-72A Lakota configured to serve as the Army’s training helicopter rolled off the company’s production line around 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday in Columbus, Miss., according to a company executive.
Airbus Vice President and Program Manager for UH-72A Lakota John Burke told reporters in downtown Washington this Lakota was due to arrive at Fort Rucker, Ala., Thursday or Friday, depending on weather. Burke said Airbus expects 25 Lakotas to roll off the production line this year, 16 for the Army National Guard and nine for the active Army.
Airbus Group. Photo: Airbus.
There are 13 other Lakotas at Fort Rucker, Burke said, but this will be the first Lakota to come off the production line in the training configuration. Seven Lakotas at Fort Rucker have been modified for training, the other six are with an Army unit that performs search and rescue missions but will be ultimately modified for training, according to Airbus spokesman James Darcy.
As part of the Army’s massive Aviation Restructure Initiative (ARI), the Army retired its Bell Helicopter Textron [TXT] TH-67 Creek single engine trainers in favor of Airbus’ twin engine UH-72A Lakota. ARI also has the Army trading its Sikorsky [UTX] UH-60 Black Hawks to the reserve component for their AH-64 Apaches, which are developed by Boeing [BA].
This is the 323rd Lakota produced by Airbus, Burke said. Five are with the Navy test pilot school at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., six for the Royal Thai Army. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress in September that Thailand requested nine Lakotas and support worth potentially $89 million.
The Defense Department has ordered 411 Lakotas dating back to 2006, including 400 for the Army.