News > A milestone overseas delivery for the U.S. Army’s UH-72A Lakota

> Latest feature story | Feature story archive

A milestone overseas delivery for the U.S. Army’s UH-72A Lakota

April 30, 2010

The U.S. Army has expanded its deployment of American Eurocopter-built UH-72A Lakotas with this month’s airlift of five Light Utility Helicopters to Germany for operation in training and support missions.

These aircraft arrived at the U.S. Army’s Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) in Hohenfels on April 22 with duty at the Combat Training Center.  The trans-Atlantic airlift – performed by a U.S. Air Force C-17 – marked the first direct long-haul overseas transfer of Lakotas and demonstrated the global mobility of this multi-mission helicopter, which is produced by American Eurocopter for program prime contractor EADS North America.

The C-17 departed from Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi, which is located near American Eurocopter’s Lakota production facility at Golden Triangle Regional Airport. 

Preparation and loading of the helicopter also took place at Columbus AFB, with support and assistance from American Eurocopter personnel. The Lakota’s compact airframe allows five of the aircraft to fit in the airlifter’s cargo bay with minimal disassembly.

The Air Force delivered the five UH-72As to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where these helicopters were reassembled and readied for crew pick-up.  This reassembly process was completed in a matter of hours and required no subsequent maintenance test flights – qualities which make the Lakota a highly deployable aircraft.

The JMRC Combat Training Center’s five Lakotas will support pilot training for combat engagements, and also will carry observers of war game scenarios performed against “aggressor” aircraft.  They will be outfitted with a mission equipment package that includes a Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES), a SMart On-Board Data Interface Module (SMODIM), and an electronic data manager.

The UH-72As are replacing an aging fleet of Vietnam-era UH-1s, offering more advanced navigation and communications systems, along with increased performance.  They will be joined by another five Lakotas that are scheduled for delivery to the JMRC in January 2011.

Additional overseas deployments by the U.S. Army will include this summer’s shipment of four Lakotas from the U.S. for basing at the Pacific Ocean’s Kwajalein Atoll. These helicopters will be used for transport and support duties at the U.S. Army’s missile test range there.

View the Feature archive.

© 2012 American Eurocopter Corporation. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer.