AW139 on display at the Farnborough Air Show in July 2006, one of the losers of the LUH program

EC145, the military version of this won

In 2004, the Department of Defense and the US Army made the decision to terminate the RAH-66 Comanche program. As part of the termination, the Army was allowed to keep the future years funding programmed for the Comanche. To replace the capability that the Comanche was supposed to offer, the Army planned several programs. Three of these were new aircraft. The Army Staff made the decision that these three aircraft, the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH), the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) and the Future Cargo Aircraft (FCA) were to be existing, in production commercial aircraft modified for Army service. Other programs that arose out of the Commanche termination were the UH-60M and the CH-47F upgrade programs. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2045x1363, 476 KB) Summary Copyright © 2005 Voytek S Eurocopter EC 145 during Góraszka 2005 air picnic. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2045x1363, 476 KB) Summary Copyright © 2005 Voytek S Eurocopter EC 145 during Góraszka 2005 air picnic. ... The United States Department of Defense, abbreviated DoD or DOD and sometimes called the Defense Department, is a civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government. ... The Boeing/Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche was an advanced U.S. Army military helicopter intended for the armed reconnaissance role, incorporating stealth techniques. ... The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a twin-turbine engine, single rotor, semi-monocoque fuselage, rotary wing helicopter. ... The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a versatile, twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. ...

The LUH program was initiated in early 2004. The LUH requirement is for 322 helicopters to conduct Home Land Security, administrative, logistic, Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) and support of the Army Test and Training Centers missions. The LUH contract was released in late July of 2005. At least five proposals were received. The competitors included the Bell 210 and Bell 412, MD Explorer, AgustaWestland AW139, and EADS Eurocopter EC145. On 30 June 2006, the Army announced that the EADS entry had won the competition. If all 322 aircraft are procured the contract will be worth over $3 billion . In August, the EADS EC-145 submission was officially designated the UH-72A by the Department of Defense. The LUH marked EADS first major military contract in the North American market, and is among their larger orders overall. The Bell UH-1 Iroquois, commonly known as the Huey, was a multipurpose military helicopter, famous for its use in the Vietnam war. ... It has been suggested that CH-146 Griffon be merged into this article or section. ... AgustaWestland is a helicopter design and manufacturing company based in Italy and the United Kingdom. ... The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V. (EADS) is a large European aerospace corporation, formed by the merger on July 10, 2000 of Aérospatiale-Matra of France, Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) of Spain, and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) of Germany. ... June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 184 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 3. ... The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V. (EADS) is a large European aerospace corporation, formed by the merger on July 10, 2000 of Aérospatiale-Matra of France, Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) of Spain, and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) of Germany. ...

External links

• EADS North America's LUH proposal
• MDHI's LUH proposal
• LUH Program (Global Security)

See also

• ARH-70