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EADS North America Receives
a Second Production Order for U.S. Army UH-145 Light
Utility Helicopters
Arlington,
VA, November 9, 2006 -
EADS North America today announced that the U.S. Army
has ordered 34 additional UH-145 Light Utility Helicopters,
bringing the total number of aircraft purchased by
the Army to 42. The LUH requirement is for up to 322
helicopters with a potential total program life-cycle
value of over $2 billion. EADS North America, the
prime contractor for the UH-145, was selected by the
Army to provide the UH-145 for the Light Utility Helicopter
mission requirement on June 30, 2006. The value of
the new order is $170 million.
In
addition to the order for 34 aircraft, the Army has
placed orders for 6 additional external hoist kits
for use on the UH-145, and 6 MEDEVAC B-kits,
which enables the Army to quickly reconfigure the
LUH for medical transport missions from passenger
or logistics configurations.
The
order exercised by the Army includes contractor supported
UH-145 specific pilot transition and maintainer training.
The training package selected by the Army also includes
the procedural trainer system provided by UH-145 team
partner and subcontractor CAE. The pilot familiarization
and maintenance training, which will take place at
American Eurocopters Training Center in Grand
Prairie, Texas, will be aligned with the delivery
schedule of the UH-145s.
This
latest order demonstrates the Armys continued
confidence in the UH-145, and in our ability to meet
the Light Utility Helicopter programs fast-paced
delivery schedule, said Ralph D. Crosby, Jr.,
EADS North America's Chairman and CEO. The UH-145
team is fully committed to supporting our customers
needs. Reflecting that commitment, EADS North America
will commence deliveries of the UH-145 before the
end of 2006.
The
Light Utility Helicopter contract expands EADS' 20-year
heritage as a helicopter supplier to U.S. homeland
security and law enforcement agencies, including the
U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection,
DEA, the FBI, and numerous state and local law enforcement
agencies across the United States. Commercial customers
of the Eurocopter EC145, from which the UH-145 is
derived, include STAT MedEvac, Vanderbilt Lifefight,
Air Life, the University of Massachusetts Memorial
Medical Center, CJ Systems Aviation Group, Lee Country
(Florida) Rescue, and Allegheny General Hospital as
an air ambulance and Taylor Energy LLC for offshore
logistics missions in the Gulf of Mexico. The Armys
order for 34 UH-145s represents the single largest
order for EC145 helicopters to date.
EADS
North America leads a UH-145 team of partners and
subcontractors committed to delivering the best-value
LUH solution to the U.S. Army. Partners include American
Eurocopter, a business unit of EADS North America,
which will handle the helicopter's production, assembly,
delivery and training for the Army; CAE, the supplier
of UH-145 cockpit procedural trainers; and Turbomeca
USA, which will produce the Arriel 1E2 engines powering
the UH-145 in its facility in Grand Prairie, Texas.
UH-145
industrial activity in the United States will be centered
at American Eurocopter's Columbus, Mississippi facility,
which is undergoing a major expansion to accommodate
the Light Utility Helicopter program. All UH-145s
will be assembled and delivered from the Columbus
facility, with transition to full production as the
230,000 sq. ft. facility expansion is completed.
For
additional information on the UH-145, see the programs
official Website at: www.uh-145.com
About
EADS North America (www.eadsnorthamerica.com)
EADS
North America is the North American operations of
EADS, the second largest aerospace and defense company
in the world. As a leader in all sectors of defense
and homeland security, EADS North America and its
parent company, EADS, contribute over $8.5 billion
to the U.S. economy annually and support more than
174,000 American jobs through its network of suppliers
and services. With 11 operating companies located
in 32 cities and 17 states, EADS North America offers
a broad array of advanced solutions to its customers
in the commercial, homeland security, aerospace and
defense markets.
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