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North American UH-72A deliveries begin |
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Friday, 10 October 2008 |
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The US Army has received its first FAL UH-72A Lakota helicopter from Eads.
Eads, the European owner of Airbus, has begun deliveries of the first final assembly line (FAL) UH-72A Lakota light-utility helicopters to the US Army.
The first rotorcraft, which was delivered ahead of schedule, had been built at the Eurocopter production facility in Mississippi. It is part of Eads North America's commitment to establishing a full production line of the UH-72A in the US.
Ralph Crosby, chairman of the company, said: "We are creating high-value jobs, in-sourcing technology to the United States and bringing production of one of the world's most successful helicopters to a new rotary-wing centre of excellence in Mississippi.
"Our Army customers are pleased with the performance and capabilities of the Lakota and we look forward to supporting the Navy's training requirements."
Eurocopter is a subsidiary of Eads that manufactures a range of different rotorcraft including the AS 332 Super Puma, AS 365 Dauphin, EC 175, MBB Bo 105 and NH90 military and civic helicopters.
As of 2007, it had delivered more than 9,800 helicopters into service with over 2,500 customers in 140 countries.
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