Following up on a promise from September, the US Army has inked a contract with Boeing to acquire the company’s latest CH-47F Block II heavy-lift helicopter.
The nine-aircraft order, valued at $461 million, was signed on 21 October and covers deliveries under production Lots 4 and 5.
Boeing now has 18 of the latest Chinook rotorcraft under contract with the US Army, separate from the more than 50 MH-47G special-mission variants on order from the US Special Operations Command.
“The rapid succession of contracts indicates that the Chinook will continue to play an important role in the US Army’s family-of-systems, particularly in a contested logistics environment,” says Heather McBryan, Boeing’s cargo programmes manager.
The latest CH-47F Block II contract follows the army’s recent rapid-fielding production decision at the end of September.
Under that plan, the service committed to equipping two combat aviation brigades with the new heavy-lift rotorcraft – equivalent to 24 aircraft.
The army had publicly committed to a full-rate production deal for Block II Chinooks in early 2024, but a firm plan for doing so – and an accompanying contract – had until now remained elusive.
The service’s total Chinook inventory counts more than 450 examples, although it is unclear if the army plans to convert the entirety of that force to Block IIs.
Boeing has delivered to the US Army six CH-47F Block II production-model helicopters that are currently undergoing a series of capability evaluations.
The company says it is in discussions with the army covering a Lot 6 contract.
Improvements featured in the modernised Chinook include an additional 1,814kg (4,000lb) of payload, increasing the tandem-rotor type’s maximum gross take-off weight to 24,500kg.
A revamped fuel system has also expanded the CH-47F’s mission radius.
