One of the most recent additions to the U.S. Army aviation fleet is the UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopter (LUH).
In late 2004, the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) announced its intention to issue a draft request for proposal for a full and open competitive procurement that satisfies the U.S. Army's light utility helicopter requirements. As described by government planners at the time, "The LUH will utilize a commercial off-the-shelf/nondevelopmental item aircraft to conduct light general support, civil search and rescue, personnel recovery, air ambulance medical evacuation (medevac), casualty evacuation, limited civil command-and-control operations in the …