Airbus Helicopters revealed on September 7 that it has delivered the first of 18 UH-72B Lakota utility helicopters to the US Army National Guard from its production facility in Columbus, Mississippi.
This delivery comes after the US Army awarded Airbus Helicopters a US$73.9m contract modification to produce 15 new-build UH-72B rotorcraft – with options to procure three more production examples – on July 23, 2020. The deal comes as part of a wider acquisition order for 35 Lakotas, comprising 16 UH-72As and 18 UH-72Bs, which has a potential contract worth of US$516.7m.
At present, 34 of the 35 aircraft have been ordered and – according to AirForces Intelligence data – the 463rd and final UH-72A was delivered to the US Army in September 2020. This means it is likely that the outstanding order would be for an additional UH-72B. In US Army service, the new variant will be used to support the National Guard’s critical mission sets.
