NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Amid the Army’s unfolding transformation plan, a Boeing [BA] official said Thursday the service’s commitment remains on intending to moving ahead with the Block II version of CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopter.
Heather McBryan, Boeing’s vice president and program for cargo helicopter programs, told Defense Daily the company still anticipates that a Milestone C decision for the program is likely to be made this year.
“We have been supporting them very closely as they march toward Milestone C,” McBryan told reporters here at the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual conference. “We have not been provided any specifics that anything has changed in terms of continuing to move toward Milestone C for Block II. We continue to deliver aircraft off our production line for Block II and we continue to submit proposals and continue to negotiate contracts for Block II.”
As part of the Army’s aviation rebalance detailed in February 2024, which included canceling development of the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, the service announced a commitment to eventual full-rate production for the CH-47F Block II Chinook (Defense Daily, Feb. 8 2024).
“Nothing has changed since last year’s decision to move forward with Block II,” McBryan told Defense Daily following a briefing here.
The Army has been rolling out a new transformation initiative which includes moving on from Boeing’s AH-64D Apache as well as cutting “obsolete” programs such as the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, Humvee, the M10 Booker combat vehicle, and Gray Eagle drones, and ending development of the Improved Turbine Engine Program, the Future Tactical UAS and the Robotic Combat Vehicle (Defense Daily, May 1).
McBryan told reporters Boeing has now delivered four CH-47F Block IIs to the Army. Five more are in production, with two close to coming off the production line.
Block II upgrades for Boeing’s CH-47F Chinook include an improved drivetrain, increased range, a redesigned fuel system and an ability to lift an additional 4,000 pounds.
“All in all, production’s really looking great and moving along,” McBryan told Defense Daily.
Boeing has also submitted proposals related to the Army’s plan to buy up to 11 more aircraft, plans of which were included in the service’s fiscal year 2024 and 2025 budget.
“We’re currently working with the Army on those contracts. They’re in various stages of the contracting process,” McBryan said.
In late March, Boeing was awarded a $240 million contract covering five remanufactured MH-47G Block II Chinook heavy-lift aircraft for U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command (USASOAC), with the latest deliveries of that aircraft scheduled to begin in 2027 (Defense Daily, March 27).
Germany has also previously agreed to a deal worth potentially $8.5 billion to purchase over 60 of the aircraft, Japan signed a deal in February to acquire 17 of the extended-range version of the aircraft, and the State Department on Tuesday approved a potential $1.32 billion deal with the United Arab Emirates that includes six CH-47F Block II Extended Range Chinooks (Defense Daily, May 13).
McBryan noted Boeing has also been developing the Active Parallel Actuator Subsystem (APAS) for U.S. Special Operations Command that would provide “supervised autonomy-like capabilities,” comparing it to a car’s lane assist feature.
“That is kind of the first step as you think about autonomy for the Chinook. That’s the foundation. But then we’re also investing a lot of research and development dollars on what’s the next step when we think about autonomy for the Chinook and how do we take it a step further with collision avoidance cueing and beyond just that tactile cueing for the pilots,” McBryan said.
“APAS is a stepping stone to broader autonomy…[the Army] has been monitoring its progress as we’ve been moving forward,” McBryan added. “Very far in the future, I think the Chinook will provide the capability for two pilots, one pilot or full autonomy. So I think that’ll be depending on the mission set. I think near term it’ll be a supervised autonomy where we’re really kind of taking advantage of where we can automate and reduce pilot workload.”
Boeing has already demonstrated “a landing without any pilot intervention” using APAS, according to McBryan.