TSAMTO, June 2. The tender for the supply of heavy transport helicopters Schwerer Transporthubschrauber (STH) to the German Armed Forces has ended.
The winner of the competition on June 1, the command of the German Armed Forces announced the American company Boeing, which offered the CH-47F Chinook helicopters.
The cost of the purchase and the exact number of purchased CH-47F "Chinook" has not yet been disclosed. The choice must be approved by the German Parliament.
The Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, General Eberhard Zorn, said that the decisive argument in favor of choosing the Chinook was a large number of customers of this helicopter in the world. As German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht stated during a speech in the lower house of parliament, "thanks to this purchase, Germany will have the opportunity to strengthen cooperation with other European countries, since the tested helicopter is already being used by NATO partners."
At the moment, more than 500 Chinook helicopters are in service with the US and European countries. This means that spare parts will be readily available during the operation of Chinook helicopters. For comparison, the CH-53K is ordered only by the US Marine Corps and the Israeli Armed Forces.
According to previously announced plans, the Bundeswehr should purchase from 45 to 60 heavy helicopters with a potential cost of 5 billion. euro with delivery in the period from 2023 to 2029. They will replace the outdated CH-53G/GS/GA/GE, which have been operated by the German Armed Forces for about 50 years.
As reported by TSAMTO, in December 2017, the German Defense Ministry approved a program for the purchase of 40 to 60 new STH (Schwerer Transporthubschrauber) heavy transport helicopters to replace 66 VFW-Sikorsky CH-53G in service. The only platforms that were considered by the German Armed Forces were Boeing's CH-47F Chinook and Sikorsky's CH-53K King Stallion (a division of Lockheed Martin).
The estimated purchase budget was 5.6 billion. euro. It was expected that the contract would be signed in 2021, and deliveries would be made in 2023-2031. The decommissioning of the German Armed Forces of CH-53 helicopters was scheduled for 2025.
The initial proposals of the company were presented in January 2020. The request for an updated proposal was planned to be sent to applicants by the end of 2020. However, in September 2020, the German Ministry of Defense canceled the tender after it was discovered during the evaluation of proposals that, if all the requirements were met, the purchase could hardly be implemented within the budget.
After the conclusion of lengthy court proceedings on the legality of the cancellation of the tender in January 2022, the tender was resumed and Boeing and Lockheed Martin received invitations to submit new proposals based on the basic versions of the H-47 Chinook and CH-53K King Stallion.
In March 2022, Boeing announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus Helicopters to submit a joint proposal for the supply of Chinook. The consortium also includes Aero-Bildung, CAE, Aircraft Philipp, Collins Aerospace, Cotesa Composites, Diehl Defense, Honeywell Aerospace, Liebherr, Reiser and Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd.
In April 2022, Reuters reported that the German Armed Forces are inclined to purchase 60 heavy transport helicopters CH-47F "Chinook" from Boeing, the cost of which is estimated at 5 billion. Euro ($5.4 billion). It is assumed that the purchase of helicopters will be financed from a special fund for the modernization of the German Armed Forces in the amount of 100 billion. the euro, the creation of which Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced after Russia launched a special operation in Ukraine. The delivery of helicopters is expected to begin after 2025/26 f.g.