Defense & Intelligence Policy, Business and Technology

Army Appeals Court Decision To Stop Lakota Helo Buy

Defense News: WASHINGTON – The US Army appealed Tuesday a US Court of Federal Claims ruling to stop the service’s procurement of 16 LUH-72A Lakota helicopters arguing the court overstepped its authority, misinterpreted government procurement terms and requirements, and improperly supplemented the record with outside information not relevant to making a decision.

At issue is an Army decision, stemming from major budget cuts under sequestration, to restructure its aviation assets. In 2013 the service came up with the Aviation Restructure Initiative (ARI) that retired the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter and the Army’s TH-67 single-engine basic rotary wing training helicopter. As part of ARI, the Army decided to take dual-engine Lakotas already in the inventory and repurpose them as the new designated trainer.

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