DOPPELADLER.COM

The UK has recommitted to its previously announced plan to buy new Boeing Chinooks, with the Secretary of State for Defence, Grant Shapps, announcing a buy of 14 helicopters on 14 March.

Speaking during a visit to British forces exercising in Poland, Shapps reiterated the plan to buy the new CH-47 Chinook Extended Range (ER) helicopters, which had been subject to a Ministry of Defence (MoD) review on cost grounds.

The Chinook helicopter has been a workhorse for the Armed Forces since it first entered service in the Royal Air Force in 1980. Over the years it has been upgraded many times. Fourteen of the most modern variant, the highly capable H-47(ER), will enter service with the Royal Air Force from 2027. Ahead of this arrival, decommissioning of the oldest fourteen aircraft will be accelerated as they reach their next deep maintenance period over the next four years. Current personnel will be unaffected and will continue to train, ready for the introduction of the H-47(ER).

The first flight of a UK Chinook helicopter with modified protection from heat-seeking missiles – called the Chinook Infrared Suppression System – has been successfully completed.

The capability being trialled by Boeing is designed to reduce the infrared signature of the Chinook.