EADS North America yesterday said it has been awarded a five-year $247.2 million Army contract for the Lakota Light Utility Helicopter (LUH).
This contract increases the company’s supply of 45 additional Lakotas along with hardware to equip the rotary-wing aircraft for medical evacuation, personnel transport and multi-mission applications.
“The Army has great confidence in the Light Utility Helicopter program, and to preserve the momentum of this successful ACAT-1 system, we awarded the Fiscal Year 2010 contract at the earliest point allowed,” Keith Roberson, deputy project manager for Utility Helicopters at the Army’s Program Executive Office for Aviation, said in a statement.
This latest contract funds Fiscal Year 2010 production of UH-72A Lakotas to be delivered through June 2011, and lifts the total number of Light Utility Helicopters ordered by the U.S. Army to 178.
“The UH-72A program is a key element in the U.S. Army’s aviation modernization effort, and we are committed to providing the very best helicopters for America’s warfighters,” said Sean O’Keefe, EADS North America CEO.
The Fiscal Year 2010 contract ensures continuity of UH-72A deliveries from the Columbus, Miss., facility operated by EADS North America’s American Eurocopter business unit.
The UH-72A is a Defense Acquisition Category (ACAT) I major defense acquisition program for the U.S. Defense Department. The Lakota’s service entry beginning in 2007 marked one of the most rapid introductions of a new aircraft in the U.S. Army’s history.
To date, 93 Lakotas have been delivered by EADS North America with all aircraft provided within budget and on schedule, the company said.
A total of 345 Lakotas are expected to be acquired through 2015 for Army and National Guard operations in missions that range from homeland security and drug interdiction, general support, logistics and medical evacuation flights (MEDEVAC).
Five H-72A versions of the Lakota are being delivered to the Navy for pilot training at the Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Md. In addition, a variant of the UH-72A is being proposed by EADS North America as a new armed scout helicopter solution for the U.S. Army–the Armed Scout 645.