ILA 2022: Boeing pushing to get German Chinooks under contract

An artist's impression of the Chinook in German service, shown at ILA 2022. (Boeing via Janes/Gareth Jennings)

Boeing is pressing to get under contract the CH-47F Chinooks that Germany recently selected for its Schwerer Transporthubschrauber (STH) requirement, programme officials said on 22 June.

Speaking at the ILA Berlin Air Show, Michael Hostetter, vice-president, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, Germany, said that following the 1 June selection decision by the German Bundeswehr, he was “very much looking forward” to getting these helicopters under contract.

“This has been a long process, and a very challenging process,” Hostetter said of the selection process to date, noting that if a contract were to be delivered in the first quarter of 2023 as expected, deliveries to the German customer could commence as soon as the first quarter of 2026 (although the timeline itself would be defined in the contract).

Boeing was selected to deliver 60 Block 2 CH-47F Chinooks to replace the Luftwaffe's 70 VFW-Sikorsky CH-53G-series Stallion helicopters, beating off competition from Lockheed Martin and its CH-53K King Stallion. The Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deal is valued at EUR5.1 billion (USD5.4 billion).

While the Bundeswehr has not yet published the reasoning behind its decision, as it alluded to in its statement, interoperability with NATO allies that operate the Chinook would have been an important factor. This was reiterated by president of Boeing Deutschland, Michael Haidinger, who noted that Germany will become the 21st operator of the Chinook.