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News > The U.S. Army’s UH-72A Lakota is deployed for operations at Kwajalein Atoll
The U.S. Army’s UH-72A Lakota is deployed for operations at Kwajalein Atoll
July 28, 2010
The American Eurocopter-built UH-72A Lakota has expanded its mission applications in U.S. Army service with last month’s arrival of four Light Utility Helicopters at the Pacific Ocean’s Kwajalein Atoll.
These Lakotas will be used for transport and support operations at the Army’s Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, replacing aging UH-1 helicopters. The four UH-72As were transported by a U.S. Air Force C-17 airlifter from Mississippi – which is home to American Eurocopter’s Lakota production facility at Golden Triangle Regional Airport.
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Painted in high-visibility orange, the Lakotas are equipped with skid-mounted floats with integrated life rafts and jettisonable cockpit doors.
“The UH-72A Lakota is uniquely suited for forward basing in a remote location like the Kwajalein Atoll due to the aircraft’s superior reliability, maintainability and operational availability rate,” said Col. L. Neil Thurgood, U.S. Army Utility Helicopter Project Manager.
This is the UH-72A’s second long-haul international deployment, and it follows the April shipment of five Lakotas to Germany for operation at the U.S. Army’s Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC). The JMRC helicopters will support pilot training for combat engagements, and carry observers of war game scenarios performed against “aggressor” aircraft. Five additional UH-72As are scheduled for delivery to the JMRC by January 2011.
The U.S. Army plans to acquire 345 Lakotas through 2016, and the service has ordered 187 of the helicopters so far – including five H-72A versions acquired for the U.S. Navy.
To date, program prime contractor EADS North America has delivered 125 UH-72As – all of which have been provided on time and on budget. The in-service UH-72A fleet has logged more than 35,000 flight hours at an operational readiness rate greater than 90 percent.
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