Chinook fleet boosted by new Mk3s

The RAF's fleet of battle winning Chinooks has been boosted by the arrival of two new Mk3s, on 13 January 2010.  These are the first of eight new aircraft to be delivered to RAF Odiham this year.

The Chinooks have been modified by Boeing and now have more powerful engines, enabling them to deploy to Afghanistan to boost air support on the frontline.

This latest announcement follows a series of improvements made to helicopter capability including:

• an announcement that the MOD plans to buy 22 new Chinooks, with the first 10 being delivered by 2012 /13;
• a £408m upgrade to the existing Chinook fleet with new engines and digitised cockpits;
• the first upgraded Merlin helicopters deployed to Afghanistan;
• an upgrade to Lynx helicopters engines;
• a £300m upgrade to the Puma fleet to extend its service until at least 2022; and
• a 95 per cent increase in helicopter flying hours, which is what commanders use to plan.

Welcoming the Mk3s, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said:

"I am delighted that the first of the Mk3s are now joining the Chinook fleet. They will provide an uplift in capability to support coalition efforts in Afghanistan, where Chinooks fly under very challenging conditions, proving their worth daily on operations. By the end of this year we expect to have all eight of these refitted aircraft in service, increasing our Chinook fleet to 46 aircraft.

"The arrival of these aircraft is further evidence of the measures we have taken to strengthen our Support Helicopter force and follows my announcement three weeks ago that we plan to buy up to 22 more Chinooks.”

The Mk3 Chinooks will gradually join the routine rotation of aircraft through operational deployment in  Afghanistan.

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