UH-72 LAKOTA LIGHT UTILITY HELICOPTER

UH-72 Lakota Light Utility Helicopter is an Army rotary-wing aircraft used for general support, training, and missions that assist civil authorities. The program appears in the FY 2027 Army budget under appropriation 2031A, Aircraft Procurement, Army; Budget Activity 01, Aircraft; and Budget Sub Activity 20, Rotary. Its roles range from transporting personnel and supplies to supporting homeland security and emergency response. The budget line has no FY 2027 funding request.

The UH-72 gives the Army a helicopter for Homeland Security (HLS) requirements, civil search and rescue, damage assessment, and support to test and training centers. It also performs generating-force missions, augments HH-60 medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) aircraft, and supports counterdrug operations in the continental United States (CONUS). These assignments allow the platform to serve Army needs while contributing aircraft capacity to domestic missions.

For HLS operations, the Lakota can transport supplies or key personnel when time is critical. It can provide air mobility to help civil authorities conduct search and rescue or disaster relief, and it can contribute advanced warning and detection of external threats, including threats to U.S. borders. The aircraft can augment air-ambulance capacity and perform limited command-and-control tasks. The Army describes these activities as part of an integrated effort with other military services, government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations.

The UH-72 also has a training role. Under the Aviation Restructure Initiative (ARI), it became the primary training aircraft at the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE) in Fort Rucker. That role places the Lakota in the Army's aviation training enterprise as well as its utility fleet. The same platform is also identified for support to test and training centers and other generating-force missions.

The procurement resource summary records 479 helicopters in prior-year procurement and a total procurement quantity of 479. It shows a FY 2025 obligation for this line, but no additional aircraft quantity for that year. The FY 2026 spend-plan description separately identifies mandatory reconciliation funding for the UH-72 and states that its discretionary component is zero. The spend-plan statement should be read alongside, rather than substituted for, the procurement figures shown in the resource summary.

For FY 2027, the Army states explicitly that the UH-72 Lakota Light Utility Helicopter has no funding request. The budget line therefore identifies no FY 2027-funded aircraft procurement or other requested-year activity. The aircraft's documented operational commitments remain broader than the current request: training at USAACE, general utility transport, support to civil authorities, and augmentation of medical evacuation and domestic security capabilities.