60 tuned Ch-47F for Germany:
US clears $8.5 billion Chinook sale to Germany, skis included - Breaking Defense
The Boeing helicopters would come with a laundry list of additional systems, from electronic counter-measures and missile warning systems to skis and life rafts.breakingdefense.com
Hey Ka-52!@yasotay : And more than Gear: see how Chinook are heralding the wet season:
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ike-mad-the-sex-frenzy-sparked-by-helicopters
Worth saying that this is the same order that was first announced in 2021, but was subject to review and much speculation last year - allegedly with Ben Wallace almost cancelling the order as being bad value for money. Interesting to see the added value in today’s release.and here in UK, been approved for H-47ER purchase
Military to get new Chinooks that can fly twice as far in £2bn deal with Boeing
The upgraded variants can carry up to 55 personnel or 10,000kg of cargo and can travel at speeds up to 200 miles per hour.www.forces.net
cheers
The argument will be that the continued operation of 1/2 of the Hercules fleet was primarily for special forces mobility. This buy is meant to be SF optimised, hence going for the long range fuel tanks to give something akin to a MH47-lite.Interesting to read also that the order is needed to offset the loss in capacity from Hercules retirement.
The logic in that escapes me.
-47G pilots have to manage their gross weight very carefully because all the extra mission equipment makes empty weight much higher than a -47F. For basic hauling, the -47Gs are not ideal; they really need upgraded engines and debugged Advanced Chinook Rotor Blades.MH-47 is a great Special Forces platform. It can fly even greater distances with air refueling (usually provided by *cough* C-130). It can fly great distances at 150 knots. So, it isn't going long distances fast. If it is in theater, not sure there is a better platform. If you have to fly from, say Mildenhall to Niger to rescue humanitarian assistance folks you might want to use a C-130 or CV-22B. I don't say this to be critical of the decision taken on by the UK to buy Chinook for SOF operations, but more the decisions to retire all C-130. A400 is also a great aircraft but I suspect bit harder to maintain and certify the "normal" amount of special gear that usually ends up bolted onto Special Purpose aircraft.
The CH-47 was already tested with a set of wing mounted in the center fuselage and experiments showed that there was no advantages in term of efficiency (with in fact a significant loss during hover and slow speed flight). thanks to the tandem rotors having overlapping discs. See Boeing BV-347
Source (picture):
disneo-art.com
Source (History):
Fill me in on debugged Advanced Chinook Rotor Blades. What are the issues?-47G pilots have to manage their gross weight very carefully because all the extra mission equipment makes empty weight much higher than a -47F. For basic hauling, the -47Gs are not ideal; they really need upgraded engines and debugged Advanced Chinook Rotor Blades.
"Hey, bro, do these sponsons make my ass look fat?"
So it can manoeuvre on the ground... The first Chinook prototypes (and early A models) did have dual wheels in the rear; however, they did not work well. The narrow high pressure tires did not turn easily on a short radius, especially on grass or rough terrain. A larger single tire worked much better.OI always wonder, why the front set of wheels are dual configuration, while the rear are single wheels ....
Fill me in on debugged Advanced Chinook Rotor Blades. What are the issues?
Thanks - Mark