Article Posted on : - Oct 27, 2010

US Army's UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopter

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA (BNS): The UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopter, which is supplied by EADS North America, has surpassed the 40,000-flight hour milestone in operational service with the US Army and Army National Guard.

The rotary-wing aircraft is operated by active duty Army and Army National Guard units in missions that include medical evacuation (MEDEVAC), search and rescue, drug interdiction, VIP transport and general aviation support.

A total of 345 UH-72As are planned for acquisition by the US Army through 2015. The majority of UH-72As delivered to date are based at locations from coast to coast in the United States.

Other deployments have placed Lakotas with the National Guard in Puerto Rico, at the Army’s Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) in Germany, and on the Pacific Ocean’s Kwajalein Atoll in support of the Army’s Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site.

American Eurocopter, an operating unit of EADS North America, has built a dedicated assembly line for the Light Utility Helicopter.

In addition to the 40,000 flight hours accumulated by the US Army’s UH-72As, another 600 hours have been logged by five H-72A versions of the Lakota operated at the US Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md.

The helicopters are used for training test pilots from the US military and allied countries.