The US Department of Defence (DoD) has awarded Airbus a contract valued at US$27.8m to upgrade the Mission Equipment Package (MEP) on 50 of the US National Guard’s fleet of 107 UH-72A Lakota helicopters.
Upgrades to the MEP are intended to expand the UH-72A’s capabilities to conduct day and night operations by providing an advanced moving map, enhanced digital interfaces, new monitors, an airborne mission management system and other system improvements, enabling the aircraft to carry out a range of tasks, including disaster relief operations and counter-drug and border security missions. The modifications will be carried out at Airbus’s Columbus, Mississippi, helicopter production facility.
Commenting on the announcement, Scott Tumpak, Vice President of Military Line of Business for Airbus U.S. Space and Defense, said: “This award provides pilots with significantly increased functionality and capability to carry out today’s demanding missions, further enhancing the Lakota’s value as an ISR asset for the National Guard.” The US DoD (Army and National Guard) has a total of 480 of the Lakota variants of the H145 (UH-72A and UH-72B).
