The U.S. Army is moving forward with a plan to buy more UH-72 Lakotas after a lawsuit blocked a previous effort to add more than a dozen of the Airbus utility aircraft to its training fleet.
A sources-sought notice released Jan. 4 outlined the Army’s interest in procuring up to 35 “new FAA certified EC-145 aircraft to supplement the Army’s existing fleet of aircraft.” The notice, posted on the government’s public contracting website, announces market research to determine what manufacturers are available to supply the EC-145, which is the commercial designation for the LUH-72 light utility helicopter used by the Army for training all helicopter pilots.
This follows a 2014 effort to sole-source UH-72As as part of the Aviation Restructure Initiative that shuffled utility and attack helicopters between the active and reserve components as a cost-saving measure.
A lawsuit from the company now called Leonardo in response to a Justification and Acquisition (J&A) document derailed the service’s attempt to purchase, sole-source, 16 Lakotas. Airbus plans to respond to the new solicitation, which the manufacturer said was originally expected in December 2017, as soon as it can.
“Airbus Helicopters will certainly respond to the Army EC-145 sources sought, which is the first step in meeting a well-documented, long-standing requirement for Lakota helicopters that our customer has said is essential to meet its readiness needs,” Airbus said. “The Army realized a tremendous savings through its Aviation Restructure Initiative, in which the Lakota played an integral role. And they have reaped even more savings for taxpayers by training their aviators on modern Lakota helicopters that feature the same level of technology as their operational fleet aircraft and so eliminate costly transitional training steps. The Lakota has the lowest cost to buy, own and operate of any helicopter in the [U.S. Defense Department] inventory, and remains the most cost-effective solution for the many non-combat missions in which the Army, Navy and National Guard employ it.”
Originally, the Army had planned to use a portion of the some 400 Lakotas it already had under contract, and purchase additional units, to fulfill training needs. That process was slowed due to the lawsuit. In August 2016, a U.S. court backed Leonardo’s challenge to the Army’s contract with Airbus for 16 more UH-72As. The outcome would require the Army to submit another J&A or hold a competition.
“Significant obstacles have been laid in the warfighter’s path during the Army’s past efforts to meet its requirements for more Lakotas, and those obstacles have in turn jeopardized the livelihoods of all the American workers who build the Lakota in Mississippi,” Airbus said. “That workforce – more than 40 percent of whom are U.S. military veterans – ended 2017 wondering if the New Year would bring them unemployment. A new contract for them would mean they can continue to build on their unbroken record of on-time, on-cost deliveries to the Army. As long as our customer has a need for Lakotas, our workers stand ready to build them.”