Long live the Chinook: Germany chooses CH-47F to replace its CH-53Gs

As part of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s massive defense investment program, Germany has chosen the Boeing CH-47F Chinook to replace its ageing fleet of Sikorsky CH-53G Sea Stallion.

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According to a Reuters report quoting the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, the contract is worth around five billion euros for sixty units, their logistics package and support.

The first deliveries would be made in 2025/2026, which would imply a CH-53G life cycle of more than 50 years, as the Bundeswehr’s first Sea Stallion units arrived in 1973.

In late March, Boeing and Airbus Helicopters signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the intention of participating in the H-47 Chinook competition for the heavy transport helicopter program, or STH (Schwerer Transporthubschrauber).

This agreement will allow a consortium of companies – AERO-Bildung GmbH, CAE Elektronik GmbH, ESG Elektroniksystem- und Logistik-GmbH, Lufthansa Technik, Honeywell Aerospace and Rolls-Royce Deutschland – to support the new fleet and integrate it with existing NATO operators of the Chinook.

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According to Bild am Sonntag, defense minister Christine Lambrecht will brief the German parliament on the decision in the coming week.

The STH program started in 2018, and the award was suspended in 2020 because the bids were not economically plausible. Germany had two bid contenders: Boeing with the Chinook, and Sikorsky with the CH-53K King Stallion, adjusted their bids.

But the CH-47’s operational compatibility with other members of the Atlantic alliance and its lower unit price seems to have tipped the balance. In addition, the defense context in Europe following the Russian invasion of Ukraine allowed for the allocation of a special 100-billion-euro package to accelerate re-equipment programs.