The goal of the threephase Light Utility Helicopter program is to concentrate all efforts on starting up the manufacture of the UH-145 on US soil as quickly as possible.

Initially, the UH-145 helicopters will be manufactured and certified by Eurocopter in Germany, where the EC145 assembly line is located. The first UH-145 helicopter will be delivered to the American Eurocopter plant in Columbus (Mississippi) where it will be customized before delivery to the US Army.
During this first phase of transferring the manufacture of the UH-145 to the United States, American Eurocopter will re-assemble, customize, flight-test, and deliver the helicopters.

In the second phase, the Eurocopter production site in Germany will furnish the subassemblies needed for the final assembly of the helicopter in the Columbus plant. The third and last phase will see the UH-145 completely assembled, customized, ground-tested and flighttested in the Columbus facility.
The overall aim is to concentrate all the efforts and resources on launching the manufacture of the UH-145 in the US as soon as possible. The UH-145 will be built entirely on the Columbus site in the third phase when there will be a maximum number of US part and component subcontractors.

In due course, the plant will also manufacture parts and components for the UH-145, perform overhaul and repair (including blades and composite parts), train army pilots and mechanics, and provide the technical publications and tech reps. As a subcontractor of EADS North America, Eurocopter and its US subsidiary are tasked with qualifying the helicopter, supervising its production, and qualifying the parts manufactured locally by US companies.
To ensure that the industrial facilities are duplicated in the United States, American Eurocopter personnel were sent to Germany in March 2006 for training.

Likewise, a team of Eurocopter specialists has been assigned to the US to help the Americans quickly familiarize themselves with Eurocopter practices. Manfred Merk, who heads the EC145 program at Eurocopter, adds: "It'll be up to us to adapt to the tempo of the Americans. Once they are fully operational and the Columbus assembly line is up and running, we'll become a subcontractor as specified in the contract."