On 30 June 2006, the UH-145 was chosen by the US Army following an invitation to bid for the acquisition of a new Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) to be used for EMS, logistic and passenger transport missions, and homeland security operations.

One year ago the US Army announced it would purchase 322 LUHs, with plans to assign a large portion of these aircraft to the Army National Guard, to replace an aging fleet of UH-1 and OH-58 helicopters. The U.S. Army is the largest operator of helicopters in the world.
The UH-145 (a militarized version of the EC145) is a solution that offers the best value for money for the LUH program and meets the Army’s requirements for speed, range, endurance, and overall performance. Derived from the EC145 – which has already been certified by the US airworthiness authorities – the UH-145 reflects the US Army’s strategy of choosing a commercially derived aircraft for its Light Utility Helicopter program.

As part of this program, the industrial partners (Sikorsky, WestWind Technologies, CAE) have been gathered together under the leadership of EADS North America. Each partner is an expert in production technology and commercial and military helicopter support.
This team is headed by EADS North America Defense, a wholly-owned subsidiary of EADS North America, which is the lead contractor for the LUH program. American Eurocopter will assemble the UH-145 at its Columbus site in Mississippi and the contracted logistics support (CLS) will be provided by Sikorsky, via its subsidiary HSI. This company will also repair and overhaul the engines, the avionics, and the autopilot.

Another partner, WestWind Technologies, has already been cooperating with the Logistics Support Activity of the US Army, at the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, for a long time now.
WestWind Technologies specializes in mission equipment installation, airframe modification, technical support, and program management support.

Finally, CAE is the leader for the design and production of customized military training equipment. CAE has provided this type of services to more than 30 countries, and has developed the world’s largest range of simulators. CAE will supply the UH-145 procedural trainer (PT) to American Eurocopter for training the US Army pilots.

Furthermore, numerous suppliers such as Aerolite, Armor Holdings, Turbomeca, Inc., Keith Products, the NORDAM Group, Skyline Industries, Thales USA, and Wulfsberg Electronics will participate in the program.
To ensure the UH-145 remained a US solution for the US Army, certain European suppliers moved the manufacture of their equipment to the United States.
For example, Thales decided to transfer the manufacture of its state-of-the-art Meghas® avionics to its new Irvine plant in California. Meghas® is already installed on the EC145, EC135, EC155, EC120 B Colibri, EC130 B4, and AS350 Ecureuil/AStar.
Moreover, all the Meghas® systems for these aircraft and the UH-145 will be integrated by Thales USA, which is based in California.