US Army and Boeing have signed a $4 billion multi-year contract for 177 CH-47F Chinook helicopters, with an option to increase its total buy...
The multi-year contract will save $800 million, which is a cost-effective alternative to annually contracting for the aircraft, and will begin in 2015.
The tandem-rotor Chinook is the backbone of combat, logistics and humanitarian operations for the U.S. Army and 18 other operators around the world.
This order would eventually bring the Army’s CH-47F total procurement close to its target of 464 aircraft, including 24 to replace peacetime attrition aircraft. The Army’s current inventory stands at 241 F-model aircraft.
There are 15 Army active duty and National Guard units operating the CH-47F, and a 16th is currently being equipped. CH-47F units have logged more than 86,000 combat hours in Afghanistan, maintaining an operational readiness rate of over 80 percent while conducting air assault, transport, and medical evacuation and support missions.
Boeing has invested $130 million to modernize its Chinook production line improving production efficiency.
First introduced in 1962, Chinook has undergone numerous upgrades since the first CH-47A model was delivered to the US Army for use in Vietnam. Beginning in 1982 and ending in 1994, all CH-47A, B and C models were upgraded to the CH-47D version, which remains the U.S . Army standard and features composite rotor blades, an improved electrical system, modularized hydraulics, triple cargo hooks, avionics and communication improvements, and more powerful engines that can handle a 19,500 lb load – nearly twice the Chinook’s original lift capacity.
An upgrade program exists to remanufacture 300 of the current fleet of 425 CH-47D’s to the CH-47F standard. The MH-47E is the Special Forces variant of the Chinook and will be remanufactured to the MH-47G.
