Canada's first of 15 Boeing CH-47F Chinook transport helicopters has been flown to Ottawa, with the manufacturer saying it is on track to complete deliveries during 2014.
Handed over at Boeing's Ridley Township production facility in Philadelphia on 24 June, locally-designated CH-147F aircraft 147303 arrived in the Canadian capital three days later. It will be operated by the air force's recently recommissioned 450 Tactical Helicopter Sqn from Petawana, Ontario, where preparations are being made to receive the type.
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Canadian Forces |
"Aircraft will be delivered at a rate of approximately one per month, with all aircraft being delivered over the next year," the Royal Canadian Air Force says. "The operational readiness of this fleet will be developed in a progressive manner that is in step with testing and training on the Chinook."
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Boeing |
Canada's acquisition of the F-model Chinook and a related 20-year package of in-service support is projected at C$5 billion ($4.7 billion), with personnel and training costs expected to add another C$1.7 billion. The nation's first example entered flight testing and evaluation in June 2012, with a second having followed last September.
Canada previously operated a second-hand fleet of CH-47Ds, which were used to support the nation's armed forces involved in NATO-led operations in Afghanistan.
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Canadian Forces |
Source: Flight International
