TSAMTO, January 27. As a Boeing representative told Jane's Defense Weekly on January 24, the company handed over the first CH-47F Chinook heavy transport helicopters to the Saudi Armed Forces.
The confirmation came after photos were posted online of at least the first four partially disassembled helicopters in the paint of the Saudi Arabian Ground Forces, presumably at the delivery port. Thus, the delivery of up to 48 CH-47F Chinooks to Saudi Arabia, approved in 2016 by the US State Department, has begun.
According to Boeing, "we can confirm that Chinook helicopters (for Saudi Arabia) were delivered to the United States. Currently, a contract has been signed for the supply of 8 new helicopters (for Saudi Arabia) and the company expects that deliveries will continue until 2022." Since the delivery is carried out within the framework of the "Foreign Military Sales" program, the customer of the CH-47F is the United States Army
As reported by TSAMTO, in December 2016, the US State Department approved the potential supply to Saudi Arabia under the Foreign Military Sales program of 48 CH-47F Chinook helicopters, 112 T55-GA-714A engines (96 installed, 16 spare), 116 integrated GPS/inertial navigation systems (96 installed, 20 spare), 58 AN/AAR-57 missile attack warning systems (48 installed, 10 spare), 48 units of 7.62mm M240H machine guns with spare parts, as well as other equipment and services with a total value of $3.51 billion.
As it was stated, the Saudis will use helicopters to strengthen their defense capability. The sale will expand the possibilities for interaction between the command of the army aviation of Saudi Arabia with the American forces, will allow the adoption of heavy-duty helicopters, will increase the possibilities for cargo transportation.
The US Military signed the first contract with Boeing Corporation for the supply of 8 CH-47F Chinook heavy transport helicopters under the Foreign Military Sales program for the Army Aviation Command of the Saudi Land Forces in August 2017. Its cost was $222.549 million.
Earlier, in December 2021, the Saudi Land Forces also announced the adoption of new UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters.
