UH-72 Missions

It offers the crucial capability of delivering troops and materials quickly with minimum delay, can rapidly apply fire power to neutralize or destroy opposing forces, offers support for friendly forces in combat, and is ideal for acquiring information, interpreting and exploiting it.

This high-performance, versatile, rugged and reliable helicopter can be equipped with a large range of equipment and provides outstanding mission flexibility to military operators.

Considered as the reference in its civil version for law enforcement organizations and military services, the H145 is in service with the US Army, which operate its UH-72A Lakota version.

Major Operators

• UH-72A - Pilot training at U.S. Army Aviation Center at Fort Rucker, AL
• UH-72A - U.S. Navy Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, MD
• UH-72A and UH-72B - Army National Guard

The Lakota is a mainstay of the National Guard’s Aviation capability in 47 states and territories. This includes some unique missions, such as the High Altitude ARNG Training Site (HAATS) in Eagle, Colorado and the Western ARNG Aviation Training Site (WAATS) in Murana, Arizona.

Military Services

Military Services rely on the UH-72 Lakota’s versatility in multiple configurations to accomplish missions that include:

• General Support
• Initial and Advanced Pilot Training
• Reconnaissance
• Command and Control
• Search and Rescue Operations
• Border Security
• Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC)
• Disaster Response
• Counter Drug Operations
• VIP Transport

With evolving military missions, the UH-72 Lakota can support growth of new requirements with a wide range of advanced Mission Equipment Packages (MEPs).

The U.S. Army’s training partner

Airbus has been the U.S. Army’s training partner at the Aviation School since 2006.   Student Pilots complete their Initial rotary wing flight training in the UH-72A Lakota at Fort Rucker, Alabama.  Future rotary-wing military pilots learn instrument procedures, basic warfighter skills, and emergency procedure training in the Lakota to gain instrument and a certified helicopter rating.  The Army Aviation School trains nearly 1500 pilots per year in the Lakota. To date, the Lakota fleet has accumulated nearly 600,000 flight hours.

The Army’s Combat Training Centers also employ UH-72A support aircraft as a part of its realistic threat training locations for combined arms training scenarios.  The Army rotates more than 140,000 soldiers annually through its Combat Training Centers (CTCs). These centers are the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif; the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana and the Joint Multinational Readiness Center at Hohenfels, Germany provides leaders at all levels to hone the skills necessary to fight and win on the battlefield, while enhancing mission readiness in individual and collective training in preparation for war.

National Guard Pilots Support MEDEVAC Mission in Germany

The U.S. Navy Test Pilot School operates the UH-72A Lakota as its primary trainer for experimental and developmental flight test training at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.  Approximately 24 test pilots are trained annually to perform acquisition testing of future aircraft to meet the Navy’s operational needs.