Yahoo Finance Britain buys more Chinook helicopters from Boeing in £1.4bn deal
The RAF is buying 14 Chinook helicopters from Boeing in a $2bn (£1.4bn) deal but will not get them for several years due to budget pressures on the cash-strapped Ministry of Defence.
A “letter of acceptance" from the UK embassy in Washington, which begins the contracts process for the deal, confirmed Britain wants to buy the Chinook H-47 extended range helicopters.
However, it warned that “as a direct result of the worldwide impact of Covid-19, the UK has had to reconsider the expenditure profile of this project”, Bloomberg reported.
The letter went on to say it wanted to try to avoid any price increases resulting from the delayed deliveries of the heavy-lift helicopters.
Britain is “eager to proactively engage to understand and attempt to mitigate the price and schedule impacts of the three-year deferral while recognising there are many programmatic and industrial base factors which need to be considered”, the letter added.
The UK has about 60 Chinooks in service. Last month’s defence and security review revealed plans that nine of the older models will be withdrawn and replaced with new extended range versions.
The order will help Boeing maintain its production line in Pennsylvania, where the helicopter is built.
Cuts to the American military budget mean the US Army is hoping to save almost $1bn by reducing an order of 68 Chinooks to 40, which could mean the Boeing factory running out of orders.
An MoD spokesman said: “Work is at an advanced stage to commence the procurement of a number of new Chinook helicopters to replace older airframes in the fleet.
“The delivery schedule and exact costs for the new Chinook helicopters are to be confirmed, but it is expected delivery will be completed before the end of 2030.”
A spokesman for Boeing said: “We look forward to building on our partnership with the RAF as the H-47 Chinook Extended Range procurement continues.”
