Australia has commissioned its first pair of Boeing CH-47F Chinook helicopters.
The aircraft will be operated by the army’s 5th aviation regiment located at RAAF Townsville, says Australia’s Department of Defence (DoD) in statement.
The commissioning comes five years after Canberra announced an order for seven ‘F’ model Chinooks to replace its fleet of CH-47Ds.
Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets database shows that Canberra operates seven CH-47Ds. Of these, six are in service, while the seventh is undergoing repairs after suffering a hard landing during combat operations in Afghanistan in 2012. It is due to re-enter service in June 2015, and then be withdrawn in June 2016.
The DoD adds that that the acquisition, which represents a total investment of A$631 million, also includes two flight simulators.
Both simulators are already in use, adds the DoD.
“The outgoing Delta-model Chinooks have proven themselves as the Army’s operational ‘workhorse’ and the new Foxtrots will further enhance this capability for the Australian Defence Force,” says the DoD.
The seven CH-47Fs were acquired under the US government’s Foreign Military Sales mechanism.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
