User:Born2flie/Light Utility Helicopter (U.S. Army program)
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The Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) program was initiated to select a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) helicopter to replace aging UH-1 and OH-58A/C aircraft in the U.S. Army and Army National Guard which resulted in a hotly contested bidding program in the wake of the RAH-66 Comanche program's demise.
[edit] History
As the LHX program was conceived, it consisted of two airframes with a high percentage of commonality of dynamic components. One was a light utility airframe for assault and tactical movement of troops and supplies, the other was a light attack/reconnaissance airframe to compliment the growing development of the AH-64 Apache. As the program was developed, the light utility airframe concept was dropped and focus was placed on the light attack reconnaissance airframe which eventually became the RAH-66 Comanche.
In 2004, the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army made the decision to terminate the RAH-66 Comanche, sacrificing an increasingly overbudget and behind-schedule program for an oppotunity to fund the critical replacement of current airframes. As part of the termination, the Army was allowed to keep the future years' funding already programmed for the Comanche to channel into several key aircraft acquisition programs.
The LUH requirement for 322 helicopters to conduct Homeland Security, administrative, logistic, medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) and support of the Army Test and Training Centers' missions. At least five proposals were received. The competitors included the Bell 412, MD Explorer, AgustaWestland AW139, and EADS Eurocopter EC145. On 30 June 2006, the Army announced that the EADS entry had won the competition, a contract worth over $3 billion . In July, the EADS EC-145 submission was officially designated the UH-72A by the Department of Defense. The LUH marked EADS' first major military contract in the North American market, and is among their larger orders overall.
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[[Category:Helicopters]]
