Helikopter - Airbus UH72A blir treningsmaskin i US Army

Army Moves Ahead with Airbus Trainer Plan

by Mark Huber

 - December 7, 2014, 2:50 AM

The U.S. Ar recently placed an order for 31 Airbus UH-72S Lakotas.

The U.S. Army is moving ahead with the plan to use the Airbus UH-72A Lakota light twin as its helicopter primary trainer and the legal proceedings over the matter could be effectively over. In October and November the Army placed two separate orders for a total of 31 UH-72As that likely will be used as trainers and more orders are expected. The Army intends to use as many as 200 Lakotas, the military variant of the EC145, for its training mission.

An Army spokesman told AIN that the Army plans to acquire 82 more new Lakotas for the training mission, including the 31 ordered in October and November, with the remainder shifting from Active Component Army units. The Army National Guard will maintain its current fleet of 212 UH-72As and none of these will be used for the active Army training mission. The Army is acquiring three more cockpit procedural trainers from the Airbus Group in support of its training mission.

The Army’s plan first came to light in its FY2015 budget proposal and immediately drew criticism from rivals Bell and AgustaWestland (AW). The Italian manufacturer went so far as to file suit to block the deal, claiming it should be put out for competitive bidding. AW filed a complaint on September 19 and sought a federal temporary restraining order to stop the acquisition. It wants to offer its AW119Kx single or AW109 light twin as alternatives. Spokesmen from both AW and Bell declined to comment for this article. Bell is not pursuing a legal challenge to the Army plan, even though its new 505 light single is viewed as a viable low-cost contender for the military training market. Sources close to the case told AIN that Bell’s inaction is prompted by its desire not to alienate the Army as the company pursues far more lucrative Army business such as the Future Vertical Lift program, which could buy the V-280 Valor third-generation
tiltrotor that Bell is currently developing.