MD Helicopters (MDHI) has assembled a contractor logistics support team to back its proposal for the US Army’s Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) programme.MDHI is seeking to re-establish the MD 902 Explorer as a major competitor for the LUH contract only a few weeks after losing powerful Lockheed Martin as a major partner.
The logistics support team includes DynCorp International, Aviation Systems of Northwest Florida and Genco Infrastructure Systems. DynCorp had originally proposed an upgrade of the Bell UH-1 for the LUH contract, but that was disqualified by the army’s operational requirements for the aircraft.
MDHI is competing against the AB139 offered by a AgustaWestland/L-3 Communications team, the Bell 412EP and the UH-145, which is being offered by EADS and Sikorsky.
The LUH programme has a listed requirement for 322 aircraft to provide basic utility, homeland defence and emergency response missions almost exclusively on US soil.
Source: Flight International
