United States Army CH-47D/F/MH-47G Ordered

The United States Army awarded Boeing a contract for nine additional CH-47F Block II Chinook helicopters. The Block II configuration adds a strengthened airframe, an improved drivetrain and new rotor blades that raise useful load by around 4,000 pounds, restoring lift margin eroded by decades of added equipment. The Army had repeatedly wavered on the scale of its Block II buy, at one point proposing to limit it to special operations units, before Congress pressed for wider conventional fielding. The Chinook is expected to remain in service into the 2060s.