Flight's European editor Niall O'Keefe confirmed yesterday that EADS North America will offer an armed version of the UH-72 light utility helicopter (LUH) for the armed reconnaissance helicopter contract.
The ARH-72, a twin-engined version of the Eurocopter EC145, will likely battle the single-engine Boeing AH-6S Phoenix for the potentially $6 billion contract.
Most interestingly, as Niall reports, EADS NA intends to offer the ARH-72 as the prime contractor, and select a US-based partner to integrate the mission system. Niall quotes Eurocopter CEO Lutz Bertling:
The ARH-72, a twin-engined version of the Eurocopter EC145, will likely battle the single-engine Boeing AH-6S Phoenix for the potentially $6 billion contract.
Most interestingly, as Niall reports, EADS NA intends to offer the ARH-72 as the prime contractor, and select a US-based partner to integrate the mission system. Niall quotes Eurocopter CEO Lutz Bertling:
Bertling says a twin-engined helicopter would be "far better suited to [the] requirement" than a single-engined design. As it is already in service with the US Army, the LUH-based solution would offer advantages in logistics and fleet commonality, and would score highly on the "past performance" criterion, he adds. The service took delivery of its 50th UH-72 in December.
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