Vietnam Interested in US UH-72A Lakota Helicopter

06 Maret 2019

Vietnam delegation visits UH-72A helicopter (photo : DatViet)

UH-72A Lakota light multipurpose helicopter is considered one of the brightest candidates to replace the old UH-1 Huey.

Currently the Vietnam People's Air Force is still maintaining the UH-1 light-duty multi-purpose helicopter fleet in the number of more than 12 units, this is the spoils obtained after 1975 and is very old, the coefficient The technique is no longer the same despite the modernization.

Vietnam is considered to be looking for a light helicopter that can replace UH-1 by Russian helicopters such as the Mi-8/17 which is much larger and quite bulky, unsuitable for The role of the troop, this was the pilot's control of both lines of vehicle comment.

Among the candidates put into the sights, the UH-72A Lakota is seen as a very promising prospect, recently the US Army posted a picture of a Vietnamese military delegation visiting the vehicle. This shows that interest is real.

UH-72A Lakota is produced by the US branch of Eurocopter, it has been selected as the new Army's light multipurpose helicopter as well as the US National Guard, to replace the UH-1H/V types. and OH-58A/C.

UH-72A of US Army (photo : US DoD)

The first UH-72A was transferred to the US Army in 2006, which is expected to order a total of 345 units.

UH-72ALakota basic specifications: 2-person crew; length of 13.03 m; main rotor diameter 11 m; height of 3.45 m; empty weight of 1.79 tons; Maximum takeoff weight of 3.58 tons.

The aircraft is equipped with 2 Turbomeca Arrius 1E2 engines with a capacity of 551 kW (738 hp) each, giving a maximum speed of 268 km / h, a flying ceiling of 5,480 m, a range of 685 km, a maximum capacity of 1,790 kg or transporting 9 soldiers with full equipment.

In addition to the transport variant - troop transport, UH-72A Lakota also has an armed version of AAS-72X equipped with machine guns, rockets and even anti-tank missiles to perform reconnaissance and fire support for infantry. .

Thanks to the advantages of possessing very high flexibility, extremely reliable in operation and maintenance, combined with the powerful power of equipment weapons, UH-72A Lakota helicopters appear to be candidates. bright to replace the retiring UH-1.

With an increasingly tight defense relationship, the prospect of UH-72A Lakota light multi-purpose helicopters soon appeared. The S-shaped strip of land is considered to be quite bright.

(BaoDatViet)