Mission Equipment Package (MEP) New To Army National Guard
UH-72A
The Army National Guard is preparing to receive the first light
utility helicopter equipped with a new, state-of-the-art mission
equipment package. The new MEP aboard the UH-72A Lakota light
utility helicopter includes an electro-optical/infrared sensor,
enhanced cockpit screens, high power illuminator system,
analog-digital data downlink capability and GPS-enhanced moving map
displays.
MEP-Equipped Lakota
A UH-72A "security and support" MEP was on display at the Army
Aviation Association of America's Annual Exposition, April 17-20,
in Nashville, TN. The package will complete certification testing
in May, and be followed by training before being delivered to the
National Guard. The S&S-equipped LUH aircraft will be ready to
conduct humanitarian and disaster relief efforts as well as other
key missions such as border patrol and counter-drug
enforcement.
One system aboard the S&S aircraft is a GPS-guided
navigation system with moving maps and street addressees --
something useful when conducting domestic missions. "We put a
navigation system in which allows us to put in a street address and
it will navigate pilots to that precise location," said Col. Neil
Thurgood, program manager, utility helicopters. "We learned during
Hurricane Katrina that the fire department, for example, will say
'hey... go to the corner of 5th and Main.' As Army aviators we
don't necessarily know where that is."
Gregory Barth, LUH project management office avionics lead, said
the system guides aviators to those locations to help them
facilitate rescues, for instance, or to conduct counter-drug
operations. "We have aeronautical charts and you can zoom through
those and get down into street level maps," Barth said. "If you are
doing a MEDEVAC mission for example, where you are given a street
address, we can enter that street address into our database and
command that to our flight management system which will direct the
pilots to that exact location. The pilots will get all the visual
cues on how to get there. We can also use it for aircraft which do
counter-drug missions. The moving map is a great addition to this
aircraft as it gives pilots a lot more situational awareness."
The new Lakota S&S package also comes equipped with a MX15i
EO/IR sensor and Data Downlink enabling pilots to view and share
key data in real time with personnel on the ground, Barth
explained. "The data downlink allows units on the ground to see
what the aircraft is seeing out of its sensor. It is a dual
frequency band that is conducive for both imagery and video," he
said.
The aircraft also has a new RT5000 radio system able to transmit
simultaneously on multiple bands. "What's unique about this is not
only can we communicate on all the civil band radios such as
police, fire department, hospitals and first responders but we can
also communicate on the military frequencies," said Thurgood.
The Army National Guard plans to buy at least 100 UH-72A S&S
package aircraft; 17 of them will be retrofitted and 83 of them
will roll new off the production line, Barth explained.