UH-72 Lakota
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| UH-72A Lakota | |
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| The Army's new UH-72A Lakota will primarily be used by the National Guard in support of homeland security missions. | |
| Type | Light utility helicopter |
| Manufacturer | Eurocopter North America |
| Primary user | United States Army |
| Developed from | Eurocopter EC145 |
The UH-72A Lakota is a military version of the Eurocopter EC 145, and is built by EADS North America. In June 2006, the US Army selected it as the winner of its Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) program.
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[edit] Background
In 2004, the Department of Defense and the US Army made the decision to terminate the RAH-66 Comanche program. As part of the termination, the Army was allowed to keep the future years funding programmed for the Comanche. To replace the capability that the Comanche was supposed to offer, the Army planned several programs, including three new aircraft. The Army Staff decided that these three aircraft, the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH), the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), and the Future Cargo Aircraft (FCA), were to be existing, in-production commercial aircraft modified for Army service. Other programs that arose out of the Commanche termination were the UH-60M and the CH-47F upgrade programs.
The LUH program was initiated in early 2004. The LUH requirement is for 322 helicopters to conduct Home Land Security, administrative, logistic, Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) and support of the Army Test and Training Centers missions. The LUH contract was released in late July of 2005. At least five proposals were received. The competitors included the Bell 210 and Bell 412, MD Helicopters MD Explorer, AgustaWestland AW139, and EADS Eurocopter EC145. On 30 June 2006, the Army announced that the EADS entry had won the competition. If all 322 aircraft are procured the contract will be worth over $3 billion. In August, 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.
The intent is to buy a total of 322 aircraft, with a possible surplus order of another 20. The program has a potential value of over $3 billion USD. The first aircraft was delivered on December 11th, 2006 in Columbus, Mississippi.[1] The second UH-72A will be delivered by the end of 2006. All aircraft are expected to be delivered by June 30, 2016.
The UH-72A is designed to take on a range of missions, from general support and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) to personnel recovery and counter-narcotics operations. They are planned to replace the UH-1 and OH-58A/C, which are older light utility helicopters, and supplant other types in domestic use.
Initial aircraft will be sent to the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif. for medical evacuation missions in January 2007. The UH-72A Lakotas will replace UH-60 Black Hawks, which will be transferred to the National Guard for operational missions.
[edit] Specifications (UH-72A)
This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.General characteristics
- Crew: 2 pilots
- Capacity: 3,953 lb of cargo internally, including 5 troops or 2 stretchers
- Length: 13.030 m ()
- Rotor diameter: 11.000 m ()
- Height: 3.45 m ()
- Disc area: 143.33 m2 ()
- Empty weight: 3,951 lb (1,792 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 7,903 lb (3,585 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× Turbomeca Engines turboshafts, () each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 145 kts ()
- Combat radius: 370 nm ()
- Ferry range: 1,380 mi (461 nm)
- Service ceiling: 9,600 ft (2,925 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,600 ft/min (8.1 m/s)
[edit] External links
- EADS North America's LUH proposal
- [1]/
- MDHI's LUH proposal
- LUH Program (Global Security)
- US Army unveils UH-72A Lakota
[edit] References
- ^ Sims, Paul. "Ready for flight. Eurocopter delivers first UH-72A to U.S. Army as world?s media watches." Starkville Daily News. 12 December 2006.
[edit] Related content
Related development
Comparable aircraft
Designation sequence
Related lists
See also
U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command
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