Rotorcraft
Robinson Reveals R66 for Army Helicopter Training
Contender to replace the branch's Airbus UH-72 Lakota trainers
R66
© Robinson Helicopter

Robinson Helicopter has unveiled a military training variant of the R-66 single-engine turbine helicopter that it intends to offer for the U.S. Army’s Initial Entry Rotary-Wing program. The California-based manufacturer formally introduced the R66 army trainer at the Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 14.

Last December, the U.S. Army published a request for information (RFI) on “solutions and methodologies that inform the Army’s analysis and development of options to transform Army Initial Entry Rotary-Wing flight training.” The RFI notes that the Army intends to replace the Airbus Helicopters UH-72 Lakota (EC145) twin-engine rotorcraft that have been the Army’s primary trainers since 2016.