Free Republic

Pentagon weapons testers say the Army’s new European-designed and built light utility helicopter has a couple of serious shortcomings that must be remedied before it can fulfill many assigned missions. A new report by the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation says the Eurocopter UH-72A Lakota helicopter “is not operationally suitable,” especially in hot weather environments, because its cockpit electronics systems could fail due to inadequate air conditioning. The Army plans to buy 322 of the helicopters, a slightly modified version of the commercial Eurocopter EC-145, which it selected last year for use by stateside Army and National Guard units...