Airbus US Space & Defense has been awarded a $315M contract by the US Army for support services relating to its UH-72 Lakota helicopters.
The deal, valued at $315,043,393, includes contract modification for continued logistics support and engineering services for the UH-72 Lakota helicopter fleet.
Work will be carried out at Grand Prairie, Texas, with an estimated completion date of December 31, 2025. The contract also includes $85,621,324 in fiscal 2025 operation and maintenance funds.
Airbus calls the UH-72 Lakota its “all in one” unmanned aerial systems (UAS). It is currently in the process of being adapted to fly unmanned missions for the United States Marine Corps (USMC).
According to Airbus, the Lakota’s versatility makes it an “interesting” aircraft for unmanned operations. Whereas some drones or UAS are designed for singular purpose, Airbus claims that an unmanned Lakota can adapt itself to any H145 operation.
Carl Forsling, Senior Manager, Business Development and Strategy for Airbus said: “It can carry a 2,000-pound missile reload, but also 2,000 pounds that could be air launched effects. It could be an electronic warfare system. It could be anything – and the flexibility that this approach has, based on a very proven Airbus platform, by adding the computer architecture and the unmanned systems, allows it to do a plethora of missions that it wasn’t able to do before.”