The Lakota is manufactured
at the company's Airbus Helicopters, Inc. facility in Columbus, Col.
Thomas Todd, Army Project Manager for Utility Aircraft, accepted delivery
of the 300th aircraft. "Airbus has an established record of on
time or ahead of schedule aircraft deliveries,” said Col. Todd.
“ Their Columbus facility has recorded a nine year record of excellence.
” Since the UH-72A contract was competitively awarded in 2006,
the company has delivered the Lakota in seven different configurations
for missions including training, border security, search
and rescue, medical evacuation, disaster response, VIP transport and
range support.
Five aircraft are also in service with the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School,
which trains Navy, Marine Corps and Army test pilots. Army officials
have recently indicated plans to modernize the service's rotorcraft
training fleet with the UH-72A.
"The Lakota was competitively selected eight years ago because
it was an easily adaptable solution for a broad range of mission requirements,
with a low-risk design that allowed the Army to save taxpayers millions
in development costs," said Allan McArtor, Chairman and CEO of
Airbus Group, Inc. "Industry should be in the business of enabling
and supporting that kind of smart decision-making for our customer."
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant praised the partnership that the state
has formed with Airbus Group in delivering a critical capability to
the U.S. military. “Almost a decade ago, Airbus made an investment
in Mississippi and its people, raising a world-class aerospace manufacturing
facility out of a green field,” Gov. Bryant said. “That
investment has paid off not just for the company, but for the men and
women of the Army and for the Mississippi families who are positively
affected by the company’s presence in our state.”
Members of Congress who spoke at the delivery ceremony commended the
Lakota workforce for its commitment to quality and exceptional record
of performance. "I applaud the efforts of Airbus to hire veterans
to help build the Lakota here in the United States,” said U.S.
Congressman Jeff Miller, representative for Florida’s
First District and Chair of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
“Veterans prove they can get the job done as a civilian workforce
and understand first-hand what our warfighters need and deserve; that
shows in the care and performance they put into this program."
The UH-72A offers the lowest cost to buy, own and operate of any U.S.
military helicopter in production, with a baseline unit cost of just
$5.5 million. The Lakota fleet recently passed the 200,000 flight hour
milestone, and it
maintains greater than 90 percent availability with full contractor
logistics support.
The 300th Army Lakota will serve with the Missouri National Guard. The
aircraft was delivered in the Security and Support (S&S) Battalion
configuration, which expands the UH-72A ’s capabilities for missions
ranging from disaster response to border security operations. The S&S
configuration includes an electro-optical and infrared sensor, searchlight,
digital video recorder, secure data downlink and moving map.
Lakotas equipped in the S&S configuration are serving with Army
National Guard units across the country, including extensive operations
along the U.S. southwest border for border security and drug interdiction.
