Mon, Jan 16, 2012
Contract supports Army’s Foreign Military Sales
efforts
The U.S. Army has awarded a contract valued at approximately
$370 million for 14 CH-47F Chinook helicopters to Boeing to support
Foreign Military Sales efforts. The aircraft will be delivered to
the U.S. Army beginning in 2014; all but one are intended for
Australia and the United Arab Emirates.
“This new aircraft sale brings our Chinook backlog to more
than 200 aircraft for both domestic and international customers
worldwide,” said Leanne Caret, H-47 Programs vice president.
“Boeing’s recent $130 million investment to create a
world-class Chinook manufacturing facility near Philadelphia means
we are well positioned to respond to this demand.”
Seven of the new Chinooks will be delivered to the Australian
Defence Force and six aircraft will be delivered to the United Arab
Emirates under the terms of a previously announced Foreign Military
Sales agreement between the U.S. government and the two countries.
One additional aircraft is to be delivered to the U.S. Army to
fulfill its own requirements. “This sale is indicative of the
tremendous interest from customers around the world who need
best-in-class, multirole heavy-lift capabilities for military and
humanitarian missions,” Caret added.
The H-47 program is at the midpoint of executing a multiyear
contract for 191 CH-47F Chinook aircraft that was awarded in August
2008 and originally valued at $4.3 billion. In November, Boeing
submitted a proposal to the U.S. government for a second multiyear
contract for 155 Chinooks for the U.S. Army. The company says this
second five-year, firm fixed-price proposal would provide the Army
with close to the full complement of 464 Chinooks outlined in the
Department of Defense program of record and would yield
double-digit percentage savings over a single-year procurement
strategy. A decision is expected early next year.
Since completing the first CH-47F production aircraft in August
2006, Boeing has trained and equipped eight U.S. Army units and is
in the process of equipping the ninth. Six units have completed
deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the helicopter has
logged nearly 70,000 flight hours and maintained an operational
readiness rate of more than 85 percent conducting air assault,
transport, medical evacuation and support operations.
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