Army helo cuts concern Cochran

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, raised concerns about proposed cuts to Army aviation based on the Defense Department’s FY 2017 budget requests. Cochran wants an explanation for a 38 percent decrease in Army aircraft procurement, including Apaches, Black Hawks, Chinooks and Lakota helicopters. Reductions, according to Cochran, would likely affect now-deployed Army combat, training and support aircraft. (Source: WVTA 02/26/16) Central Mississippi Note: UH-72A Lakota helicopters are built at Airbus Helicopters Inc. in Columbus, Miss., and are to be the Army’s newest trainers of helo pilots.