Army taps Airbus for 35 UH-72A Lakota helicopters

Airbus Helicopters has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Army for 35 UH-72A Lakota aircraft. The deal, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, is valued at more than $273.2 million under the terms of a firm-fixed-price contract.

The agreement between the Army and Airbus Helicopters taps the company to provide 35 UH-72A Lakota aircraft.

The UH-72A is a twin-engine helicopter with a single, four-bladed main rotor.

The helicopter is used in a domestic utility role to transport troops and supplies by the Army and National Guard, and has been in use since 2007.

Work on the contract will occur in Columbus, Miss., and is expected to be complete by March 2021.

More than $136.6 million will be obligated to Airbus Helicopters from Army fiscal 2017 and 2018 aircraft procurement funds.

Maryland Army Guard unveils newest helicopter in its arsenal

The first of four UH-72A Lakota helicopters - that will be part of the Maryland Army National Guard's fleet used for civil support, search and rescue and homeland security missions - takes off at Camp Fretterd, Maryland with senior members of the Maryland National Guard aboard for the inaugural flight April 18, 2012. The flight was crewed by Army Lt. Col. Michael Whelan, commander for the Maryland Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment, Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Renonzo Belcher, a Lakota pilot and a Baltimore police flight officer and Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Beale, who was the flights crew chief. (Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. John Orrell)(Released)

By Air National Guard National Guard Tech. Sgt. John Orrell, National Guard Bureau

CAMP FRETTERD, Md. - The Maryland Army National Guard unveiled Wednesday its first of four UH-72A Lakota helicopters – which will replace the older OH-58A Kiowa as their premier aircraft for civil support, search and rescue and homeland security missions.

Currently the Maryland Army Guard has six personnel being trained on the new light utility helicopter and its mission equipment package.

According to Guard officials the Lakota brings to the table many improvements over the Kiowa, to include:

•Nose mounted center line payload with infrared and electro-optical sensors and laser painter – which will allow for more accurate search and rescue by using heat signatures;

•Moving map and touch-screen displays;

•Video management system;

•Digital video recorder and data downlink system – which will allow the pilots to insert addresses, latitude and longitude points, and military grid coordinates to find the exact location of contact within 50 feet;

•Additional avionics and communications equipment – to include radios that will allow the Guard members to communicate with law enforcement, emergency medical services and rescue services;

•A 30 million candlepower searchlight and an external hoist to allow the Lakota to move up to 600 pounds of equipment.

Compared to the Kiowa, which is a single-engine helicopter, the Lakota has twin-engines, that during hurricane season will allow Maryland Guard pilots to fly and take off in winds up to 50 knots – about 60 miles-per-hour. A feature that was not available on the Kiowa.

“It’s a state-of-the-art aircraft for … state-of-the-art pilots,” said Army Maj. Gen. James Adkins, the adjutant general for the Maryland National Guard.

The Lakota is also a more cost efficient tool. According to Maryland Guard officials, the Lakota can be maintained and operated at half the cost of the UH-60 Black hawk.

With all of the upgrades the Lakota brings to the Maryland Army Guard fleet, Adkins feels this will position them to be even more efficient for multiple missions.

“Not only does it help Maryland by replacing older aircraft, but it supports the governor … in emergencies … and it supports the federal government as well,” he said.
“Two of these aircraft will be going to the southwest border at the beginning of June to support U.S. Customs down there,” Adkins said. “We’ll use it in state emergencies whether we need to go out and look for lost individuals, or do analysis of the impact of a hurricane.”

Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Renonzo Belcher, a Lakota pilot and a Baltimore police flight officer, was one of the pilots for Wednesday’s flight. He feels that even though the Kiowa was a useful tool for the Maryland Guard, he is looking forward to the capabilities the Lakota will bring to the fleet.

“The old [helicopter] was good, but this one has a lot more capabilities,” he said. “[The Lakota has] a lot more radios, a little bit more power so that we can also conduct hoist missions [and] carry a lot more people and we’re able to stay up in the air lot longer – versus the older plane where two hours of flight-time was feasible the new Lakota can offer us three to three-and-a-half hours.”
The flight was manned by Army Lt. Col. Michael Whelan, commander of the Maryland Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment, Belcher and Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Beale, who was the flight’s crew chief.

Airmen deliver new Army helicopter to Europe

UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopters are assembled behind a C-17 Globemaster III in preparation for transport April 12, 2010, at Columbus Air Force Base, Miss. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Jacob Corbin)

by Senior Airman Jacob Corbin, 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs

COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFNS) -- A C-17 Globemaster III loaded new Army light utility helicopters for delivery to the warfighters April 12 here.

This marked the first time UH-72 helicopters were transferred directly overseas via Air Force transport.

The C-17 assigned to the Mississippi Air National Guard's 172nd Airlift Wing in Jackson, Miss., and it's payload of five UH-72 departed Columbus Air Force Base after several days of on-site preparation.

Traditionally, after being accepted by the Army, pilots will self-deploy the helicopters from their manufacturing area to locations around the contiguous United States, said Army Chief Warrant Officer Five John Jones, the acceptance pilot for the Army light utility helicopter program. The UH-72 is used for medical evacuation, wartime support and field training and is stationed at locations worldwide.

Mr. Jones said this group of UH-72s was different because they were being sent directly to their service locations overseas due to a combination of timing and need.

"Fortunately, there is an Air Force base close by, and everyone has come out to help us with this," Mr. Jones said.

He said the help of the Air Force and other services is crucial for some missions.

"(The mission) flat can't be done if all the services don't work jointly," he said.

Lakota replaces Huey in nation’s capital

New air ambulance helicopters delivered to District of Columbia National Guard. Upgraded medevac helicopter equals increased capabilities in and around DC.

STORY AND PHOTO BY STAFF SGT JON SOUCY

WASHINGTON – The 121st Medical Company (Air Ambulance) on March 12 went from flying the Army’s oldest aircraft to flying its newest. The District of Columbia Army National Guard unit took delivery of two UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopters, trading in a pair of their Vietnam-era UH-1 Iroquois, more commonly known as the Huey.

“In my 36-year career, I can only think of two times when the National Guard received brand new equipment straight from the factory,” said Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau. “We are good at maintaining older equipment, but we are better at taking newer equipment and making it last.” Scheduled to receive a total of six Lakotas by the end of the year, the 121st – the first medical evacuation unit to receive the Lakota – will continue to fly its remaining UH-1s as they phase in the new aircraft.

“The citizens of the District of Columbia and the surrounding states surely will appreciate having this equipment here,” McKinley said. “The medical response capability that it provides will be significant, and our nation needs to have the newest, best equipment.” The new aircraft is a substantial upgrade over the Huey.

“It’s a very attractive aircraft, very smooth, and two generations above what we’re flying now,” said Sgt. George Wagner, a crew chief with the unit. “It’s a very capable, competent aircraft and will be a good addition to the D.C. Army National Guard.”

One reason for that generational leap is that the Lakota incorporates many technologies that weren’t available when the Hueys were manufactured.

“These aircraft have autopilot and GPS and automation systems that far outshine what’s on the UH-1,” said Lt. Col. Maureen Bellamy, the senior Army aviation officer for the DC ARNG.

Other features of the aircraft include twin engines and a fourblade main rotor, which means an increase in safety.

“The dual engine capability gives us a redundancy and an increase in safety for the people we fly over and the people we fly inside our aircraft,” said Bellamy, who added that most of the unit’s mission set can be accomplished with just one engine.

And that dual engine and fourblade rotor system also means a faster top cruising speed and a longer range, unit members said. “Flying these aircraft back [from Mississippi], we were flying about 300 miles before we needed to refuel,” Bellamy said.

The aircraft is designed to fit in specifically with the Guard’s domestic missions and operations. “The hoist gives us an excellent capability for assisting someone who may be trapped, for example, as in Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Katrina,” Bellamy said. “We also help people who might be lost in the national parks and various mountainous areas where it’s very difficult to get a ground vehicle in to rescue them.”

And while the Hueys have hoist capabilities, the Lakota’s hoist system offers other advantages. “I think one of the best things is the external rescue hoist,” Wagner said. “That’s a big space saver inside the aircraft and I’m looking forward to doing some live hoist rescues with that.”

Though even with the upgrades the Lakota offers, its fielding is bittersweet for those who have flown in Hueys for years.

“Getting the new aircraft means we’re coming to the end of the old,” said Wagner. “I’m an old Huey guy. I’ve been flying [in] Hueys for a long time. So, it’s the end of an era and you can’t help but have mixed feelings about it.”