The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced that it will move forward with procurement of 14 Boeing extended-range CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters following a nearly three-year postponement due largely to cost pressures.
Defense Minister Grants Shapps confirmed finalization of the deal on March 14.
Originally announced on May 13, 2021, by former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace shortly after the unveiling of the U.K. Defence Command Paper, the project appeared to have fallen by the wayside and questions began mounting as to whether it would ever proceed.
While the program was deemed a crucial component of the part of the future Integrated Force 2030 under the outline of the Defence Command Paper, Defense Secretary Wallace had demanded that the procurement be scrapped due to a £500 million ($639 million) spike in the price tag over the initial estimates.
The discrepancy in cost estimate led to a dispute between the British and American ambassadors that required an intervention from Downing Street. Shapps noted that the delta from the initial estimates to the later priceline had now shrunk by £300 million enabling the final cost to settle at £2 billion ($2.56 billion) for the 14 helicopters.
In addition, Shapps noted that roughly £150 million in U.K. industrial workshare in the procurement had been secured. This will include the provision of flight-control system equipment from BAE Systems, and delivery of the defensive aids suite from Leonardo Electronics UK.
With the procurement now restarted the aim is for deliveries of the new Chinooks to begin in 2027.
The British refer to the new Chinook as CH-47ER (Extended Range) Block II, or H-47ER.
But nomenclature notwithstanding, for all intents and purposes the helicopters being purchased are MH-47Gs. The type was developed for the U.S. Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and never offered up export by the U.S. The new helicopters will have double the range of the current British Chinook fleet, which comprises around 55 units following the recent retirement of several of the oldest units.
Under the 2021 Integrated Review of Security, Defense, Development and Foreign Policy the aim is to retire nine of the earliest-model Chinooks and shrink the current fleet to 51 units. Once the newer H-47 Block II ER variants have been delivered, a one-for-one retirement of older models will follow, thus ensuring the fleet remains at 51 units.
The Chinook Capability Sustainment Program aims to keep the British Chinook fleet operational into the 2040s and possibly beyond.
Dan Darling is Forecast International’s director of military and defense markets. In this role, Dan oversees a team of analysts tasked with covering everything from budgeting to weapons systems to defense electronics and military aerospace. Additionally, for over 17 years Dan has, at various times, authored the International Military Markets reports for Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
Dan's work has been cited in Defense News, Real Clear Defense, Asian Military Review, Al Jazeera, and Financial Express, among others, and he has also contributed commentary to The Diplomat, The National Interest and World Politics Review. He has been quoted in Arabian Business, the Financial Times, Flight International, The New York Times, Bloomberg and National Defense Magazine.
In addition, Dan has made guest appearances on the online radio show Midrats and on The Media Line, as well as The Red Line Podcast, plus media appearances on France 24 and World Is One News (WION).
