Looking for a new helicopter, more agile and lighter than the Blackhawk for domestic use, the Army decided to try to avoid the typical years-long acquisition process and buy something right off the shelf. EADS, a European aircraft manufacturer, makes a handy little gadget called Eurocopter EC 145 which seemed perfect for the Army’s purpose since it had already been programmed, designed, tested, debugged, and was in use in several armed services already. And so the LUH (light utility helicopter) was brought on line, designated the UH-72a Lakota, because Army helicopters are named after Indian tribes.

It has been a very successful addition to several nations’ forces, but has developed some teething problems here in the US.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Army is spending $2.6 billion on hundreds of European-designed helicopters for homeland security and disaster relief that turn out to have a crucial flaw: They aren't safe to fly on hot days, according to an internal report obtained by The Associated Press. While the Army scrambles to fix the problem - potentially adding millions to the taxpayer cost - at least one high-ranking lawmaker is calling for the whole deal to be scrapped.

During flight tests in Southern California in mild, 80-degree weather, cockpit temperatures in the UH-72A Lakota soared above 104 degrees, the point at which the Army says the communication, navigation and flight control systems can overheat and shut down.

Are we certain this thing was carefully planned out? Those navigation and flight control systems just might come in handy.

No cockpit equipment failed during the nearly 23 hours of testing, according to the report, prepared for the Army in July. But it concluded that the aircraft "is not effective for use in hot environments." The Army told the AP that to fix the cockpit overheating problem, it will take the highly unusual step of adding air conditioners to many of the 322 helicopters ordered.

$2.6 billion for 322 of them and they overheat? Well, this is an inconvenience. I know it’s an unpopular point with the anti-science folks like the Republican Party and various fringe lunatics like James Dobson’s followers, but summer in the United States does not resemble northern Germany in May, although the still-unproven-and-only-a-theory-like-gravity global warming catastrophe is changing the European climate too.

It has been determined that “opening a window, for heavens sake, child, before you melt,” is not the best solution, but thanks anyway for the idea, Grandmother Swensen.

The Army did not respond to questions about how much the retrofitting will cost and who will bear the expense.

That last bit is easy: The co$t will be $teep and $evere, and you and I will bear the expen$e, but if we really need the helicopter, a solution must be found.

The Army has received 12 of the Lakotas so far from the American Eurocopter Corp., a North American division of Germany's European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., or EADS. Testing on the first six by an independent arm of the Pentagon revealed the problems. The rest of the choppers are scheduled for delivery to the active-duty Army and the National Guard over the next eight years.

The Lakota represents the Army's first major effort to adapt commercially available helicopters for military use. Air conditioning is standard in commercial versions of the aircraft, which have not had overheating problems. But the military usually avoids air conditioning in military aircraft to reduce weight and increase performance.

"We don't need air conditioning in the Blackhawks, so we didn't think it would be an issue" in the Lakota, McCuin said. "But when we got the helicopter into the desert, we realized it was a problem."

The Army plans to use the Lakota for such things as search-and-rescue missions in disaster areas, evacuation of injured people, reconnaissance, disaster relief and VIP tours for members of Congress and Army brass. All of its missions will be in the U.S. or other non-combat zones.

Blackhawks, Chinooks and other helicopters will still be available for more demanding duties, such as fighting wildfires or mass evacuations.[emph added]

The Eurocopter can carry up to nine passengers and a crew of two so it will definitely be useful in emergency missions, although for shlepping around Congresscritters they probably should consider very powerful air conditioning.

The commercial purchase was designed partly to cut costs and quickly get aircraft into the field to replace two aging Vietnam-era helicopters, the Kiowa and Huey. The Army said the Lakota will also free up more Blackhawks to send to Iraq for medical evacuation flights. The Lakota has another problem: Testers said it fails to meet the Army's requirement that it be able to simultaneously evacuate two critically injured patients. The Lakota can hold two patients, but the cabin is too cramped for medics to actually work on more than one of them at a time, the testers said.

Also, the Lakota cannot lift a standard 2,200-pound firefighting water bucket, but can handle a 1,400-pound one. The Army said it had no intention of using the Lakota to fight wildfires.

Not to sound like a nitpicker, but I’ve been hearing triumphant bleating from the White House, the Pentagon, CENTCOM, and MNF-I for the last three weeks that casualties are way down in Iraq, which is proof positive that the so-called surge as been successful and the occupation is working, and now they’re talking about needing more Blackhawks for casualty evacuation. I’m also confused about why we won’t be using this Lakota for fighting wildfires when the original press release specifically included that duty among its uses. It sure sounds like it’s intended for that, because now they will need a special Lakota-compatible water bucket. If you know how government procurement works, you’ll get the idea right away.

Being able to only work on one med evac case at a time sounds like a drawback, too.

Rumors that KBR, a subsidiary of HalliCheneyBurton, has offered to work on a 10 year no-bid contract to resolve the over-heating problem by supplying large blocks of ice have not been verified.