The Army’s Biggest, Fastest Helicopter Is Poised For Further Performance Gains

Way back when the cold war was ending, an enterprising division of General MotorsGM
decided to burnish the image of its vehicles with the slogan, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” The ad campaign didn’t last long, but the slogan ‘not your father’s _____’ became popular with companies trying to highlight how their products had improved over the years.

Perhaps BoeingBA
should try a similar formulation to underscore how its CH-47F Chinook helicopter has evolved. The helicopter debuted on the eve of America’s war in Vietnam, and because its appearance hasn’t changed much, it is common for reporters to refer to it as a Vietnam-era aircraft.

However, today’s Chinook doesn’t have much in common with its 1960s forebears. For starters, it carries twice as much payload (22,000 pounds versus 11,000), is equipped with a raft of self-protection devices, and in its latest version is fully digitized. Despite the added weight, Chinook remains the fastest rotorcraft in the Army fleet thanks to its tandem rotors, capable of carrying up to 55 soldiers long distances at a speed approaching 200 miles per hour.

So, calling the CH-47 a Vietnam-era aircraft is a bit like applying the same label to the Army’s Abrams tank (designed 1972-75) or the Air Force’s C-130 airlifter (first flight in 1954). Like Chinook, these warfighting systems remain at the cutting edge of innovation thanks to continuous improvements since their inception.

Germany effectively confirmed that status when it announced in June it would buy 60 new Chinooks to replace its own fleet of aged heavy-lift helicopters. Obviously, the Germans would not be buying a helicopter that is outdated in its design and features. Chinook was judged the best airframe available to meet future German military needs.

That was good news for Boeing’s Vertical Lift business, which earlier this month secured an order for 96 Apache attack helicopters from the government of Poland, to add to an order for 29 Apaches from Australia earlier this year. When it comes to rotorcraft, Boeing (a contributor to my think tank) seems to be on a roll.

However, the company faces a challenge with upgrading Chinook to its latest configuration: the Army has repeatedly delayed giving the upgrades a formal go-ahead, and thus Boeing has had to fight on Capitol Hill every year to keep the upgrade effort on track. The upgrades collectively are known as the “Block II” variant of the CH-47F, and the service says it will make a decision on whether to proceed in the third quarter of 2023.

It’s not that the Army has something better waiting in the wings. Chinook is expected to remain in service through 2060, and plans for a potential successor have barely progressed to the PowerPoint stage. In other words, there is no “Plan B”—the Army either upgrades Chinook or soldiers will have to go to war without the various enhancements the service had been planning.

These include an improved rotor system, an improved drive train, an improved fuel system, a strengthened structure, digital flight controls, upgraded electrical system and various other upgrades. The payload will increase without sacrificing any of the features needed to maximize survivability in wartime.

The increased payload is important, because Chinook in its Block II configuration will be the only rotorcraft in the fleet capable of lifting an M777 howitzer or Joint Light Tactical Vehicle—successor to the ubiquitous but under-protected Humvee. Without Block II, some of the service’s most heavily used equipment cannot be airlifted on the battlefield.

There isn’t much mystery about why the Army has delayed giving the go-ahead to Block II upgrades. It’s all about money. The service has embarked on an ambitious effort to modernize its light and medium helicopters, and that leaves scant funding for the other airframes in the inventory.

So, its heaviest lifter will have to wait. Fortunately for special operators, their version of the upgrades has been allowed to proceed—a good thing, given how decrepit the special-ops version of Chinook has become. The special operations community needs 73 new Chinooks with in-flight refueling capability to extend range and various piloting aids in order to execute especially harrowing missions.

However, that still leaves over 400 CH-47F helicopters in need of Block II enhancements. These airframes are nested in all of the Army’s active-duty divisions plus two dozen state-level National Guard organizations. The procurement objective for these “standard-range” variants is 465 rotorcraft, which underscores how widely used the Chinook is in today’s Army.

Despite the additional features incorporated into the special-ops helicopters, there is a great deal of commonality across both Block II variants, which will facilitate maintenance of the fleet. But in the absence of Army approval for pushing ahead on Block II upgrades for the entire fleet, the cost of each special-ops airframe is increased by millions of dollars due to the loss of production efficiencies.

And therein lies the crux of the issue. The minimum sustaining rate for Block II is 18 aircraft per year. If the number falls below that level, key suppliers for the helicopter’s transmission, flight controls and structure will likely depart the program. At that point, enhancing the Army’s biggest, fastest helicopter for 40 more years of service will become problematic.

Congress has already signaled that it wants the Block II improvements to proceed. The Army certainly isn’t opposed: it has included Block II upgrades on its fiscal 2023 “unfunded priorities” list, just as it did in 2022. But the fact that the Block II effort didn’t make it into the service’s actual budget request reflects how many demands are being made on the Army’s modernization accounts. The service’s budget is stretched across too many programs.

The bottom line is that unless Congress decides to rearrange Army modernization priorities—probably a bad idea—the fate of the Chinook upgrades is uncertain. Thousands of jobs are potentially on the line in Pennsylvania and other states, but the more important issue is what a lack of timely upgrades would mean for America’s warfighters. The CH-47 isn’t going away, so it needs to be made ready for the battlefields of the future.

As noted above, Boeing contributes to my think tank.