Boeing Photo Australia commissioned their first two Boeing CH-47F Chinook advanced configuration helicopters at Royal Australian Air Forc...
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| Boeing Photo |
Five additional new Chinooks will be delivered this year, eventually replacing an existing fleet of six older CH-47D Chinooks.
The Australian Chinook fleet is flown by the Army’s 5th Aviation Regiment, 16th Aviation Brigade. Under the scope of the contract, Boeing Defence Australia will provide delivery and on-site operational maintenance support to the seven aircraft.
Chinook's primary roles include troop movement, artillery emplacement and battlefield resupply. There is a wide loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage and three external-cargo hooks underneath.
The tandem contra-rotating rotors at front and rear of the aircraft, eliminates the need for a traditional rear vertical rotor. As both rotors turn in opposite directions, the torque they apply to the helicopter is cancelled out. This arrangement also creates extra lifting capacity by having all of the engine's power dedicated to lift and thrust.
Weighing about 21 tonnes, the CH-47F has a modernized airframe, Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) cockpit that improves crew situational awareness and the Digital Automatic Flight Control System (DAFCS), which offers enhanced flight-control capabilities for the multitude of conditions in which the helicopter is used.
For more than 70 years, Boeing and Australia have maintained a partnership operating and supporting a broad range of platforms that now includes, in addition to Chinook, the Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control System and C-17 Globemaster III.
