The Army National Guard was scheduled to receive the first of the new UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopters in June.
The Lakota, a civilian commercial-off-the-shelf Eurocopter EC-145 will replace the aging OH-58 and UH-1 legacy aircraft and be dedicated to homeland security missions.
UH-72A program managers, along with EADS North America and Sikorsky Support Services Inc., are conducting briefings and initial site surveys of National Guard facilities as they close in on dates for fielding the new aircraft, the helicopter’s program manager, Army Lt. Col. Jim Brashear told National Defense.
The National Guard will eventually field 200 aircraft during the next eight years. The Lakota is unarmed and will be used exclusively in domestic airspace. Because it does not carry weapons or need protection to fly into combat, the Army chose a commercial aircraft.
The deployment is a rare good news story for Army aviation, which has faced delays procuring the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, the combat-ready replacement for the OH-58 Kiowa.
A National Guard facility in Tupelo, Miss., was scheduled to obtain the first aircraft in June. Each battalion will have three eight-ship UH-72A reconnaissance companies and one eight-ship UH-72A medical evacuation company.
They will support domestic missions such as fire suppression, hurricane relief, assistance in law enforcement and security.
Other units to receive the aircraft this year will be in Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Florida. Next year, the Lakota will arrive in North Carolina, Washington, D.C., Vermont, Texas and Puerto Rico. Twelve aircraft should be delivered by the end of this fiscal year, with another 28 being fielded next fiscal year, Brashear said.
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