In the USA: The upgrading potential of the Chinook helicopters is enough for 2050's
The American company Boeing will extend the life of heavy military transport helicopters Chinook. We are talking primarily about the modification, which will be called CH-47F Chinook Block II. These helicopters have differences in the form of the latest avionics, engines and airframe design. Flight tests of the updated version of the military transport helicopter, which is produced with the 1962 year, will begin in the 2019 year.
The updated version of the CH-47F Chinook, as the manufacturer claims, will have increased autonomy. It is noted that the modernized CH-47F Chinook will be able to serve the American army until the 50-s of the XXI century. If these plans are truly translated into reality, then Chinook can be called a unique helicopter, the service life of which (in various versions) will be almost 100 years!
The US Air Force notes that the demand for these military transport helicopters remains very high. They, like 40-50 years ago, continue to be used to transport military personnel and military equipment. In this case, there are already problems. Thus, it is stated that the Chinook payload is not sufficient to transport some types of modern American armored vehicles.
The director of business partnership development at Boeing, Randy Rotte, says that the CH-47F version was originally intended for transporting a payload of about 8 tons. Maximum - 12,3 T. The new modification of the F-version should have greater capacity indicators. It is also planned to increase such an indicator as the rate of climb. For active models, it is about 9,5 m / s.
Randy Rotte noted that fuel system upgrades are also scheduled. The helicopter will be equipped with additional tanks, which will turn it into a version of a flying tanker. It will be used to transport fuel for the needs of the ground forces. At the same time additional capacities can be removable.
It is known that the final assembly of Chinook Block II was launched in June of this year at a plant in the state of Pennsylvania.
Serial production of the upgraded models is scheduled to launch in the 2021 year. In the end, it is planned to put into service the US Army 542 helicopter CH-47F Chinook Block II, 473 model CH-47F Chinook and 69 G-series helicopters for special operations. For this, Canadian partners of the United States will be involved.
The updated version of the CH-47F Chinook, as the manufacturer claims, will have increased autonomy. It is noted that the modernized CH-47F Chinook will be able to serve the American army until the 50-s of the XXI century. If these plans are truly translated into reality, then Chinook can be called a unique helicopter, the service life of which (in various versions) will be almost 100 years!
The US Air Force notes that the demand for these military transport helicopters remains very high. They, like 40-50 years ago, continue to be used to transport military personnel and military equipment. In this case, there are already problems. Thus, it is stated that the Chinook payload is not sufficient to transport some types of modern American armored vehicles.
The director of business partnership development at Boeing, Randy Rotte, says that the CH-47F version was originally intended for transporting a payload of about 8 tons. Maximum - 12,3 T. The new modification of the F-version should have greater capacity indicators. It is also planned to increase such an indicator as the rate of climb. For active models, it is about 9,5 m / s.
Randy Rotte noted that fuel system upgrades are also scheduled. The helicopter will be equipped with additional tanks, which will turn it into a version of a flying tanker. It will be used to transport fuel for the needs of the ground forces. At the same time additional capacities can be removable.
It is known that the final assembly of Chinook Block II was launched in June of this year at a plant in the state of Pennsylvania.
Serial production of the upgraded models is scheduled to launch in the 2021 year. In the end, it is planned to put into service the US Army 542 helicopter CH-47F Chinook Block II, 473 model CH-47F Chinook and 69 G-series helicopters for special operations. For this, Canadian partners of the United States will be involved.
Information