An Australian CH-47D lands at Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. The ADF will purchase two additional CH-47Ds, bringing its fleet to seven and replacing an aircraft lost in Afghanistan earlier this year. (Dept of Defence)
The Australian Defence Force will buy two extra CH-47D Chinook transport helicopters, bringing its fleet to seven and replacing a Chinook downed earlier this year in Afghanistan.
The Chinooks are being purchased from the US and are expected to arrive in Townsville next month, where they will undergo servicing and modification to the current Australian CH-47D configuration. They will likely enter service by mid-2012, Defence Minister Stephen Smith and Defence Materiel Minister Jason Clare said in a statement.
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The ministers said the additional aircraft will reduce pressure on the training and maintenance schedule for the Army’s CH-47D fleet and will lead to enhanced support for the two Chinooks currently deployed to the Middle East.
The Army has deployed Chinooks to Afghanistan since 2006. One of the transports, A15-102, crashed during a resupply mission in Zabul Province on May 30 this year, killing LT Marcus Case, a Heron UAV pilot.
The CH-47D fleet is scheduled to be replaced by seven new CH-47F Chinooks from around 2016.
Why didn’t we buy the Canadian ones that are for sale? We could have bought all 5 and used them as spares as well!
Jason
says:
I cant believe the Australian Government has taken so long to order the token 7 CH-47Fs and 2 Model Chinooks. Just hope they make a decision to buy more F models ( or even rebuild the D – F Models)
We cant keep relying on the US for Air Support, even with 2 Chinooks in Afghanistan
Even the British with its shrinking Defence budget has put in an oder for more Chinooks
The Australian Government has really made a bad call opting for the MRH-90, when instead they should have put an order in for more Black Hawks/Sea Hawks and Chinooks.
Martin
says:
If we cast our minds back far enough, there was a time when the ADF considered they didn’t need the capability that the Chinook provided and that Blackhawks were meant to fill the gap. I suspect the data sheets were not compared closely enough? That decision was reversed. Long live the Chinook in ADF service.
Greg
says:
The Canadian CH147’s were better than the US ones, but over-priced. The department which liquidates Cdn assets, put the price at double what was recommended by their staff, oddly, they didn’t sell.
Mark
says:
More Chinooks are needed if ADF wants serious lift capability. I believe the UK has around 30. Not that we would want that much, but we should have double our current force.
MRH90 is a promising aircraft. Blackhawk was fraught with problems at the start. Why must we always buy American? Though I do think that CH53 might have been a better option for the RAN.
john m. dique
says:
The Commonwealth could buy 500 chooks.
Just slash the federal parliamentary budget. It’s only 11 Billion dollars a year.
Lease them to the mining industry for FIFO. [you may or may not be surprised to discover, with the high cost of
diesel , building and maintaining runways for FIFO aircraft is very expensive.
They would be indespensible for exploration and plant operations.
iscover
Dane
says:About time we got more of these.
Andrew McLaughlin
says:Remember where you read it first folks
Mick
says:Why didn’t we buy the Canadian ones that are for sale? We could have bought all 5 and used them as spares as well!
Jason
says:I cant believe the Australian Government has taken so long to order the token 7 CH-47Fs and 2 Model Chinooks. Just hope they make a decision to buy more F models ( or even rebuild the D – F Models)
We cant keep relying on the US for Air Support, even with 2 Chinooks in Afghanistan
Even the British with its shrinking Defence budget has put in an oder for more Chinooks
The Australian Government has really made a bad call opting for the MRH-90, when instead they should have put an order in for more Black Hawks/Sea Hawks and Chinooks.
Martin
says:If we cast our minds back far enough, there was a time when the ADF considered they didn’t need the capability that the Chinook provided and that Blackhawks were meant to fill the gap. I suspect the data sheets were not compared closely enough? That decision was reversed. Long live the Chinook in ADF service.
Greg
says:The Canadian CH147’s were better than the US ones, but over-priced. The department which liquidates Cdn assets, put the price at double what was recommended by their staff, oddly, they didn’t sell.
Mark
says:More Chinooks are needed if ADF wants serious lift capability. I believe the UK has around 30. Not that we would want that much, but we should have double our current force.
MRH90 is a promising aircraft. Blackhawk was fraught with problems at the start. Why must we always buy American? Though I do think that CH53 might have been a better option for the RAN.
john m. dique
says:The Commonwealth could buy 500 chooks.
Just slash the federal parliamentary budget. It’s only 11 Billion dollars a year.
Lease them to the mining industry for FIFO. [you may or may not be surprised to discover, with the high cost of
diesel , building and maintaining runways for FIFO aircraft is very expensive.
They would be indespensible for exploration and plant operations.
then you would have them :
A. Dispersed.
B. Ready for a national disaster.
C. Ready for …………