The American company Boeing has signed a contract with the US Army for the production of the first upgraded heavy transport helicopters CH-47F Chinook Block II. It should start delivering them in 2023.
The US military has been using the Chinook since the sixties, and its latest version - the CH-47F - since 2008. This helicopter is made according to the longitudinal arrangement of the screws. Its length, taking into account the rotors with a diameter of 18.3 meters each, is 30.1 meters. With a take-off weight of 22.7 tons, the CH-47F can carry up to 10.9 tons of cargo. It flies at speeds up to 315 kilometers per hour, and its range exceeds 740 kilometers.
Boeing began developing an upgraded version of the CH-47F, designated Block II, in 2017. The upgraded version differs from the basic one by the extensive use of composites in the design of rotor blades and more powerful engines. This made it possible to increase the load capacity of the machine by 1.8 tons.
In addition, the Block II received updated on-board electronics, more powerful generators and a fuel system in which three tanks are placed inside one tank. This made it possible to abandon pumping pumps and additional fuel lines. So the mass of the fuel system decreased by 90 kilograms, and the volume of fuel increased.
Military tests of the helicopter were planned for the second quarter of 2021, but in January it became known that specialists of the American army found increased vibration of the rotor blades in it. These vibrations can lead to various kinds of flight accidents. In addition, the military noted increased fatigue and poor health after the flight in Block II. Therefore, Boeing will have to redesign the blades, as well as the fuel system and transmission, which also revealed shortcomings during the inspection,
Despite these difficulties, the US Army signed a contract with Boeing, allowing the concern to officially begin production of the first CH-47F Chinook Block II. The agreement assumes that their deliveries will begin in 2023.
Not only Boeing is engaged in replacing conventional helicopter rotor blades with composite ones. In 2017, the Russian Helicopters Holding Company tested a modernized Mi-171E helicopter with a main rotor, the blades of which are made of composite materials.
Vasilisa Chernyavtseva
