Airbus Helicopters received a $65.8 million order in contract options for 12 additional UH-72A Lakota helicopters and associated mission equipment packages, the company said Nov. 12.
The original contract associated with these options was first selected in a 2006 competitive contract for an aircraft capable of a range of Army and Army National Guard missions: training, search and rescue, medical evacuation, border security, command and control, VIP transport, and general utility.
The UH-72A is a twin-engine helicopter with a glass cockpit compatible with night vision goggles and is single-pilot Instrument Flight Rules certified, Airbus noted.
The 12 rotorcraft in the new contract option are set to be delivered beginning August 2017. They are to be configured for the Army as initial entry rotary-wing trainers.
The Army has fielded over 50 UH072As at Fort Rucker, Ala., in preparation for the helicopter’s formal introduction into the training curriculum in early fiscal 2016. Army plans call for an initial-entry rotary wing training fleet of 187 Lakotas, made up of both new deliveries and currently in-service aircraft reconfigured for a training mission, Airbus said.
“Almost half the men and women who build the UH-72A in Mississippi are U.S. military veterans, and some even fly in Lakotas in the Army National Guard. Everyone on that production line takes a great amount of pride in their unbroken record of delivering on their commitments, and we hope they’ll be building Lakotas for many years to come,” Chris Emerson, president and CEO of Airbus Helicopters Inc., said in a statement.
The UH-72A is produced at Airbus’ Columbus, Miss. facility.