The European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS) North America recently said the Army awarded a $181.8 million contract option to deliver 34 more UH-72A Lakota helicopters, raising the total aircraft ordered to date to 312.
The Army plans to procure 347 Lakotas through 2016.
EADS North America Chairman and CEO Sean O’Keefe said, “This latest contract award is a reflection of EADS North America’s commitment to on-time, on-cost performance with the Lakota, a proven, flexible aircraft that is flying every day to meet the Army’s mission. We’re proud of delivering on our promises. In today’s fiscal environment, the Army needs and deserves programs that meet their cost and schedule commitments.”
So far, EADS NA has delivered 243 Lakotas–all on time and on budget–from its American Eurocopter facility in Columbus, Miss., where up to five aircraft per month are produced by a workforce that is more than 50 percent U.S. military veterans.
The same production line would produce the company’s armed Lakota derivative, the AAS-72X+, for the Army’s Armed Aerial Scout helicopter program.
Army Col. Thomas Todd, Utility Helicopters project manager, said: “The Lakota program is an example of a successful program that is meeting the Army’s needs by complying with the Army and OS (Office of the Secretary of Defense) goals for an (Acquisition Category) ACAT-1 high performing program. High performing, well-run programs are the benchmark for major defense program acquisition; the Lakota is clearly in that category.”
At a time when defense budgets are being scrubbed, sequestration perhaps looms and acquisition officials try to “squeeze” every cent they can from programs, the UH-72A Lakota is very conscious of costs.
The Lakota program has a firm fixed-price contract that has stayed on cost and schedule, EADS North America spokesman, James Darcy said in an interview.
Additionally, because the UH-72A is derived from the EADS Eurocopter EC 145, “every improvement we make to the aircraft is in response to the demands of the commercial market and the Army gets the modifications for free,” Darcy said.
For example, over the past seven years, modifications have often dealt with performance, he said. For instance, the aircraft’s weight has been reduced by 24 pounds over the past seven years, and that mod cost the government nothing in terms of development costs.
A recent modification–the hollow shaft mod–sealed a hollow shaft, so environmental effects wouldn’t cause additional maintenance. For example, if operating in a sandy environment, sand would get into the hollow shaft, sometimes unbalancing it as well as adding weight, he said. The sealed shaft eliminated the problem, without causing the Army development and testing costs. The mod was certified and cut into the production line and “every Lakota starting about 25 aircraft ago comes off the line with the modification,” Darcy said. This work is all done on the company dime. The Army only pays for retrofits in the field.
Recently, as the company went through the voluntary flight demonstration for a potential Armed Aerial Scout program, Army evaluators told the company the aircraft “fell within affordability criteria already.” EADS NA is also keenly interested that total ownership costs be taken into account as the program moves forward.
Aircraft deliveries under the latest option will begin in September 2013. The contract also includes eight engine inlet barrier filter kits.
Twenty-four of the aircraft on this contract will receive the Security and Support (S&S) Battalion mission equipment package (MEP), which was procured under a separate contract action. The MEP expands the Lakota’s capabilities for missions ranging from disaster response to border security. It includes a moving map, Electro-optical/InfraRed (EO/IR) sensor, digital video recording capability, digital and analog downlink, and a searchlight.
Army National Guard units across the country currently operate Lakotas equipped with the S&S Battalion MEP, including extensive operations along the U.S. southwest border.
A combination of full contractor logistics support (CLS) for the Active Army and hybrid CLS for the Army National Guard enables the units to operate the Lakota in accordance with their flying hour plan. The Army program office, military units, and the industry team of EADS North America, American Eurocopter and Helicopter Support International has provided tailored program logistics to the Army and Army National Guard since 2006.
The Lakota fleet has averaged an operational availability rate greater than 90 percent for locations with the full contractor logistics (CLS) support, encompassing 21 different military units, the company said. The spare parts fill rate under the hybrid CLS concept supporting 33 units has averaged 97 percent.
Deliveries of the aircraft to National Guard units allow aging OH-58 and UH-1 rotary-wing aircraft to be retired, while UH-72As assigned to the Army’s active component free up UH-60 Black Hawks for combat assignments.