On May 11, 2023, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) of the US Department of Defense sent a notification to the US Congress about the planned upcoming sale of 60 CH-47F Block II Chinook transport helicopters manufactured by Boeing Corporation to Germany through the US program of intergovernmental foreign military sales Foreign Military Sales (FMS). This sale is approved by the U.S. Department of State. The total cost of the proposed delivery will be $8.5 billion, including equipment and training and technical support packages.
Image of the Boeing CH-47F Block II Chinook transport helicopter in the paint of the German Air Force (c) BoeingRecall that in April 2022, the German government decided to purchase Boeing CH-47F Block II Chinook helicopters following a long-running tender under the Schwerer Transporthubschrauber (STH) program to replace heavy Sikorsky CH-53G transport helicopters in the German Air Force.
Plans were announced to purchase 60 CH-47F Block II Chinook helicopters worth about 5 billion euros, with deliveries starting in 2025-2026 and completion in 2031. The purchase will be financed from the planned special fund for the German armed forces in the amount of 100 billion euros, the creation of which was announced by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.
Thus, the loser turned out to be the second contender in this tender - the Sikorsky (Lockheed Martin) CH-53K King Stallion helicopter, which had been considered a favorite for a long time before, since it is a development of the design of the same CH-53 (S-65 / S-80) family. However, in the end, the choice was made by the Germans, reportedly due to the lower price of the Chinook and considerations of "interoperability" with NATO allies using Chinook helicopters.
For 2022, the German Air Force had 66 CH-53GS/GA/GE transport helicopters. At one time, 112 CH-53G helicopters were produced for the German army by the German company VFW - Fokker (in 1981 it became part of the MVV) from 1972 to 1975 under license from Sikorsky. In the 2000s, 20 CH-53G helicopters were upgraded according to the CH-53GS standard and six according to the CH-53GE variant, and in 2010-2014 another 40 helicopters were retrofitted according to the CH-53GA standard. In 2017-2022, all 26 CH-53GS/GE helicopters underwent additional modernization at the Airbus Helicopters facility in Dunauwerth. In 2012, all CH-53G helicopters were transferred from the German Army aviation to the Air Force.
