Combat Aircraft takes a look at the little-known UH-72A Lakota helicopters operated as ‘enemy forces’ at the National Training Center in southern California’s Mojave Desert.
THE US ARMY’S UH-72A Lakota is used for a wide variety of missions. National Guard units fly most examples, using the Lakota for medevac, search and rescue, VIP, border patrol, and other tasks providing assistance to civil authorities. The UH-72A was acquired by the Army to replace National Guard UH-1s and OH-58s, as well as to allow the transfer of UH-60 Black Hawks to active-duty Army units. A few other Lakotas are used by the active-duty Army as ‘enemy’ aviation forces at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, the Joint Readiness Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and the Joint Multi-national Readiness Center at Hohenfels, Germany.
Fort Irwin’s National Training Center (NTC) is located in the Mojave Desert and its UH-72s are assigned to B Company, 2916th Aviation Battalion. Nicknamed ‘Sokol’ (Russian for falcon), the aircraft act as the organic aviation unit for the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR), which plays the role of the opposing force for the units rotating through the NTC for training.
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