Additional CH-47F for Spain

On 5 July 2023, the US Department of Defense (DoD) awarded a contract, valued at USD 800 million, to Boeing Defense to produce nineteen CH-47F Chinook Block I heavy-lift transport helicopters.

One of the nineteen helicopters will go to Spain for use with the Fuerzas Aeromóviles del Ejército de Tierra (FAMET, Spanish Army Aviation) increasing its fleet to eighteen aircraft. The other eighteen are destined for the Republic of Korea. These nineteen Chinooks are the final Block Is to be produced. Production and deliveries will conclude in 2027.

In April 2018, the first seventeen CH-47Fs for the FAMET were ordered.

Boeing already transitioned to build the advanced CH-47F Block II configuration for the US Army. The Block II will come with more powerfull engines - Honeywell T55-714C - giving the helicopter a 22% improvement over the current T55-714A turboshaft engine. However, the first Block IIs that will be delivered still have the T55-714A engine, which will be seamlessly upgraded to the “C” version of the engine when it becomes available in 2025.

Next to the new engines, the Block II has redesigned fuel tanks, a strengthened fuselage, an improved drivetrain, advanced rotor blades, increased payload capacity and enhanced mission systems.

Photo by Paco Rivas (Scramble Archive)