Procurement: First UH-72A Export Sale

Archives

May 31,2008: The U.S. is supplying Malta with one of its new UH-72A ("Lakota") helicopters. The U.S. Army pays about $9 million for each of these twin engine helicopters, but Malta is getting them at a discount price of about $6 million. In the United States, the UH-72A is replacing the UH-60 for a lot of jobs that don't require a helicopter quite that large (about a third larger). Malta is the first export customer for the UH-72A.

The U.S. Army is buying 332 UH-72A (formerly called the UH-145) helicopters, from European firm EADS. The UH-72A is a militarized version of the EC145, a helicopter very popular with law enforcement agencies, including the FBI. The UH-72A purchase is a side effect of the cancellation of the Comanche helicopter, which was perceived as too expensive and complex. The UH-72A will mainly replace the aging UH-1 helicopters, which are being retired.

The UH-72A has about the same capacity as the UH-1, despite its smaller size. The 3.6 ton UH-72A has a top speed of 260 kilometers an hour and a max range of 660 kilometers. Average endurance per sortie is about two hours. The helicopter has a crew of two, and can carry up to eight passengers, or about three-quarters of a ton of cargo or weapons. The EC145 was introduced six years ago, and has been very popular with its users. By the end of the year, about fifty UH-72As will have been delivered to the U.S. Army.

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   contribute   Close