CH-47 Chinook: Boeing and Eurocopter To Build a Bigger Chinook?

[nrj]

Boeing and Eurocopter have agreed to cooperate on a future transport helicopter (FTH) and at the ILA Berlin Air Show both companies displayed a tandem-rotor concept that resembles an enlarged CH-47 Chinook.

Boeing and Eurocopter displayed at the ILA Berlin Air Show a tandem-rotor concept for a future transport helicopter. The concept closely resembles an enlarged CH-47 Chinook.​

The fuselage would be 66 feet long and 12 feet wide, enabling the internal carriage of armored vehicles. Both France and Germany have requirements for a next-generation heavy-lift helicopter, and a NATO staff target is being developed. The German Army operates a large fleet of CH-53G heavy-lift helicopters, and Eurocopter previously explored cooperation with Sikorsky, which is designing the CH-53K model to replace the U.S. Marine Corps' CH-53D/E fleet.

But although it is a complete redesign, the CH-53K cabin is only 12 inches wider than that of the predecessor CH-53s. Eurocopter CEO Lutz Bertling said that there is a transatlantic consensus that a FTH should not carry underslung loads in a threat environment. However, the U.S. Marine Corps is quite happy with the emerging, triple-engine CH-53K, according to requirements officer Major Jeff Davis, who briefed journalists on the program at Berlin.

The first of the all-new GE38-1B engines is doing well in ground tests; the first flight is scheduled for fiscal year 2013. Initial operating capability with four machines would follow five years later. "We're watching the European FTH requirement," he added. A Sikorsky spokesman told AIN that his company had offered Germany three options for the FTH, based on the CH-53K. "The German preference seems to fluctuate between an off-the-shelf solution and an all-new design," he added.

Source

 

[Neil]

Boeing begins flight testing of Chinook Mk4 helicopter

Boeing has begun flight testing of the first Chinook Mk4 helicopter for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The first flight took place on Dec 9 in Hampshire, England. "Project JULIUS, as the Mk4 program is known, will modernize the current Royal Air Force Chinook fleet – essentially giving us new aircraft," said Chris White-Horne, Mk4 project team leader for the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence. Project JULIUS will modify 38 Mk2/2A Chinooks into the Mk4/4A configuration and eight Mk3 Chinooks into the Mk5 configuration.

Upgrades include the addition of the Thales TopDeck cockpit display and mission avionic System, which includes four multifunction displays, two stand-by flight displays, updated communications interfaces and two new air data computers. The TopDeck cockpit suite also includes an onboard mission planning system, a ground mission support system and a secure data transfer system.

Project Julius also adds a third crew-member seat in the cockpit and includes an update of Airworthiness & Safety Certification and Qualification for the modernized Chinook. The aircraft are being modified at the Gosport Fleetlands facility operated by Vector Aerospace.

"The first of the modified Julius Chinook helicopters is expected to be available to commanders before the end of 2011," said David Pitchforth, managing director of Boeing UK Rotorcraft Support. "Vector Aerospace is delighted to be associated with this significant milestone. It is a testimony to the skill and dedication of our teams in Fleetlands and Almondbank, who have worked in a spirit of true partnership with our customer Boeing and the key equipment suppliers," said Tim Rice, managing director, Vector Aerospace UK.

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company and a business unit of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, Boeing Defence UK Ltd. currently has employees at 20 locations throughout the UK supporting Ministry of Defence and U.S. military programs.

Boeing UK Rotorcraft Support, working with Boeing Global Services & Support's Rotorcraft Support business, is focused on providing increased capability to the United Kingdom's military rotorcraft fleet. Supported by Boeing Defence UK, UK Rotorcraft Support has employees in Afghanistan, the UK, and the U.S., supporting Royal Air Force Chinooks and British Army Air Corps Apache fleets. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $34 billion business with 68,000 employees worldwide.



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[nrj]

UK Chinook Upgrade Flies, More Details Emerge

Boeing announced the first flight of an upgraded UK Royal Air Force Ch-47 Chinook. It also confirmed that the entire current fleet of 46 UK Chinooks will receive the new cockpit displays and mission avionics, supplied by Thales from its TopDeck range, by 2016. The upgrade also includes more powerful Honeywell T55-l-714A engines, new defensive systems, nose-mounted FLIR and new secure communications. The aircraft are being modified at the Fleetlands facility near Portsmouth operated by Vector Aerospace, which is Boeing's principal subcontractor for deep support of the UK Chinook fleet.

The modification project includes 38 HC.2/2As (new designation after upgrade HC.4/4A) and eight HC.3s (new designation HC.5). The HC.3s have only just entered service after a multi-year delay caused by the UK's failure to properly specify a previous avionics upgrade to Boeing. QinetiQ completed a major reversionary process on the HC.3s, including the replacement of more than 100 wiring looms. The HC.3 version was originally intended for use by UK Special Forces, and has the same additional fuselage-mounted fuel tanks as the U.S. Army's MH-47s.

In 2009, the UK announced plans to buy another 22 Chinooks from the CH-47F production line. That number was later reduced to 12 in the recent UK defense review. Those aircraft will be designated HC.6, and will have the Thales cockpit fitted on the production line, rather than the Honeywell suite that is standard on the US Army's CH-47Fs.


-- Chris Pocock

 

[SpArK]

Stunning photo of an RAF Chinook in Afghanistan .

 

[blackhawk_80]

Turkey has received its 11th and final Boeing CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift heli from the US. The US Embassy in Ankara announced on 31 July.
The final batch of 4 helis was delivered to the port of Izmir on the same day as the announcement, concluding the delivery process that began in July 2016.
As previously reported, of the 11 Chonooks reportedly ordered, six are for the Turkish Land Forces Command (TLFC), four for the Special Forces Command (SFC), and one for the Ministry of Defense that will be converted into a VIP transport.