US Military EXTREME PERFORMANCE UH-72 Military Helicopter

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A great promo video of the US Military UH-72 military helicopter. The Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota is a twin-engine helicopter with a single, four-bladed main rotor. The UH-72 is a militarized version of the Eurocopter EC145 and was built by American Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters, Inc.), a division of Airbus Group, Inc. Initially marketed as the UH-145, the helicopter was selected as the winner of the United States Army’s Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) program on 30 June 2006. In October 2006, American Eurocopter was awarded a production contract for 345 aircraft to replace aging UH-1H/V and OH-58A/C helicopters in the U.S. Army and Army National Guard fleets.

Development[edit]
Background[edit]
The U.S. Army’s LHX program began in the early 1980s, proposing two helicopter designs with a high percentage of commonality of dynamic components. One was a light utility version (“LHX-U”) for assault and tactical movement of troops and supplies, the other was a light scout/attack version (“LHX-SCAT”) to complement the growing development of the AH-64 Apache. As the program was developed, the light utility version was dropped and focus was placed on the light attack reconnaissance version,[3] which eventually became the RAH-66 Comanche.[4]

In 2004, the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army made the decision to terminate the RAH-66 program. As part of the termination, the Army retained the future years’ funding intended for the Comanche.[5] To replace the capability of the cancelled Comanche, the U.S. 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) (later renamed Joint Cargo Aircraft, or JCA), were to be existing, in-production commercial aircraft modified for Army service.

LUH Program and UH-145[edit]
The LUH program was initiated in early 2004, with an initial stated requirement for 322 helicopters to conduct homeland security, administrative, logistic, medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) and support of the army test and training centers missions. The LUH contract was released in July 2005. At least five proposals were received, including Bell’s 210 and 412, MD Explorer and AW139. EADS North America (EADS NA) marketed the UH-145 variant of the EC 145 for the program.[6] On 30 June 2006, the U.S. Army announced that the UH-145 as the $3 billion LUH contract’s winner. In August, the UH-145 was officially designated by the Department of Defense as the UH-72A. The award was confirmed in October 2006 following protests from losing bidders. Despite a four-month delay due to the protests, the first UH-72 was delivered on time in December, at which time the name Lakota was also formally announced for the type, following the service’s tradition of giving its helicopters Native American names. The LUH marked EADS NA’s largest DoD contract to date.[citation needed]

On 23 August 2007, the UH-72A received full-rate production (FRP) approval to produce an initially-planned fleet of 345 aircraft through 2017.[7] The UH-72A is produced at Airbus Helicopters’s facility in Columbus, Mississippi; production transitioned from local assembly of kits received from Eurocopter Deutschland to full local production in 2009.[8] In December 2009, the service ordered 45 more UH-72As.[9] The 100th Lakota was delivered in March 2010,[10] the 250th UH-72 was delivered in April 2013.[11] That month, the U.S. Army opted to halt procurement after 2014 due to budget cuts;[12] at this point, a total of 312 Lakotas were on order by the service.[13] In January 2014, Congress gave the Army $171 million to procure 20 additional UH-72As.[14] The 300th UH-72 was delivered to the Army in May 2014.[1]

In May 2013, Congress questioned why the UH-72 had not been considered for the armed scout role. The Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno stated that the UH-72A was developed for domestic operations and is not considered to be operationally deployable to combat zones. The UH-72 is employed by the U.S. Army National Guard in a utility role in the U.S., releasing UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to deploy overseas.[15] On 21 June 2013, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall stated in a letter to Congress that UH-72 combat modifications were “presently unaffordable.” Fleet-wide combat modifications would reportedly cost $780 million and add 774 lb (351 kg) of weight per helicopter; changes would include passive and active survivability systems, hardened engines and drive train, external lighting and communications upgrades.[16]

Use as trainers[edit]
As of December 2013, the U.S. Army is considering retiring its OH-58 Kiowa fleet and transferring all Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve AH-64 Apaches to the active Army to serve as scout helicopters. All 100 active Army UH-72s along with 104 National Guard UH-72s

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